Due Cieli
by Sapphire09
Summary: A terrible accident happened to Tsuna, an accident he would never forget for the rest of his life as it carved an eternal reminder on him. The accident itself left him to stray in a small, remote town far from home. How could he cope with this?
1. Target I : Darkest Sky of Night

**Sapphire09: **This is my first attempt on writing a Reborn fanfic... I'm new in this, so please forgive any OOC-ness that happens in this story. I tried to keep them in character as much as possible, but I'm sure I'll still miss many things.

**WARNING: **Grammar and OOCness, that's all I could think of...

**DISCLAIMER: **I do not own Reborn

* * *

The sound of the wind and waves crashing against the shore brought him out from the oblivion he was in. The first thing he noticed was the burning sensation that enveloped his body. It was so painful, like someone was trying to burn him alive. However, the burn seemed to spread from where his thigh should be and from one of his eyes. He wanted to curl, to do something to make the pain disappear, but he couldn't move. His motor sensory seemed to be unable to receive his brain's order. Even though his mind seemed to be unable to perceive anything, he could catch the smell of water that invaded his nose and he could taste the salty texture of something wet.

Distantly, far at the back of his mind, he also felt the creeping sensation of something warm, something enveloping against him. Slowly, through the burning pain of his body, he opened his eyes. Through his half-lidded eyes, the blurry image of something vast and blue, with blotches of white, invaded his vision. Its name was somewhere in the back of his mind, but he couldn't make out the word in the midst of the burning.

The burning sensation soon became too unbearable for his as he felt himself dragged back into the void. Before he lost all his senses, however, he could hear a distinct cry, coming from somewhere far away, like a call carried by the wind.

"_Hey! There's someone there!"_

**

* * *

~|Due Cieli|~  
**_(Two Skies)  
by Sapphire09

* * *

_

_Aitaku naru no "shoudou" nakitaku naru no "juunjou"_  
(The "urge" of wanting to see you, the "innocence" that made me want to cry)

_Natsu no hi ni tobikonda hotaru wa kaeranai_  
(The fireflies that flew into the fire of summer will not return)

**Ikimono Gakari** - _Hotaru no Hikari_ (Naruto 5th Opening)

**

* * *

TARGET I**_  
The Darkest Sky of Night

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_

"…_So pitiful…."_

A voice reverberated through his surroundings, echoing from every side, every range of his hearing. The burning was gone, the pain was missing. The tranquility he felt was enveloping, numbing every sense of touch he had. His eyes slowly opened, however unfocused.

'…_Who…?'_ he thought. His mind registered the feeling of floating, yet the numb feeling that was spread across his entire body, the feeling of touching nothing. His unfocused eyes tried to make out an image, a scene to identify something, yet all he could see only the vast light blue color with clear shine that reminded him of a crystal. His couldn't think of anything, only sense of curiosity remained.

"_Are you really…? I guess that was…"_ the voice echoed again, paying no heed to the question he just asked.

He tried to look, moving his line of sight—however unfocused—slightly to the left and right, trying to catch something, _anything_, out of the vast blue that surrounded his vision.

"…_I—_," the voice reverberated again. This time, he caught a black figure, so far away, so little in his eyes, seemingly to be nothing more than a small black dot in the midst of never-ending blue. Its presence… wasn't unfamiliar to him.

_Is it …?_ _No… That's not him… It's different… somehow…_

_Who?_

He tried to focus, he really did, but it quickly disappeared as he felt himself being pulled back to the darkness for the second time.

The burning sensation came again, but not as hurtful as before. Unlike the numb sensation he felt before, he felt himself enveloped with warmth and comfort, despite the pain he felt. Unlike the enveloping pain he had before, he only felt the throbbing sensation on his eye—right eye—and on his mid-thigh, his left one. He felt more pains on other parts of his body, but the rest was nothing more than stinging sensation and alike.

In the midst of darkness he could hear voices, echoing against each other. His hearing couldn't make out any coherent words, only soft murmurs and echoes. Blurry light entered his vision. He only could make out the colors, since it was too blurry for him to make out the shapes. The light soon pained his eyes, so he invited the darkness again. He then felt something reverberated in his throat, before a hoarse voice was heard. It wasn't a word, only noise. Only later he realized that the voice was his.

"—wake?" another voice, soft and childish, entered his ear. He tried to invite the light to his eyes again, to see a shadow looming over him. The shadow blocked some of the light, but he still needed to blink to adjust his eyes to the light.

"…Wh—?" he tried to ask, no matter weakly, but his throat felt so painful when he tried to speak. The voice he let out was so hoarse; he couldn't even recognize it as his own. His eyes could only make out a face, yet was shadowed and all he could see was the small lips. Those lips formed a smile, before the figure moved and the blinding light pained his eyes again, forcing them close. But, instead of letting darkness enveloped him, he tried to adjust his sight to the light. When he finally could see clearly, he saw wooden ceiling, adorned with a simple square lamp. After a while, he noticed that he's under a warm blanket on a _futon_.

"I see you've awoken," a deep, heavy voice of a man suddenly said from his side. He turned his head slowly to the source, to his left, to see, of course, a man stood. He didn't look any older than thirty-five, and he supported a dark brown locks. His short hair looked like it hasn't been combed for years. The man had a gentle look on his dark brown eyes, and his lips supported a small smile. His jaw looked strong and square-shaped, with stubble adorning it. He wore a green _haori_, with a simple white shirt beneath and a simple pair of brown pants that reached his ankles. Old-fashioned, that was what he looked like.

Behind the man, he noticed a girl no older than eight, with a small smile that made him sure that she was the one that he saw earlier the minute he woke up. The girl had the same color for hair like the man, but hers fall straight to her shoulder. Her hair was parted from the middle down to her shoulder. A strand of hair fell in between her honey-colored eyes. She didn't look as old-fashioned as the male, but her look is still quite simple; just a white long-sleeved shirt with a pink sleeveless one-piece dress that reached past her knees.

Just after he took notice of them, he noticed something was wrong.

His range sight doesn't seem to be as wide as before. He couldn't see anything on his right side.

"Huh—!" Surprised, he shot straight up as he gasped. However, that action brought unimaginable ache to his body. He couldn't even yell out in pain since it hurts too much, only a groan. He barely noticed that the male had come closer to him and helped to sit, trying to put him in a position where it won't be as hurtful.

"Whoa there, be careful. You weren't on your best, you know?" the male said, almost in a reprimanding way, but he barely heard it. Slowly, when the pain was eased, he touched his right eye, and noticed the texture of a cloth—bandage, he presumed—was wrapped over his right eye. He then noticed a glass of water was pushed to him by the male.

"Drink up. You must be thirsty," the male said with a smile that reminded him of Yamamoto.

_Yamamoto? Who—ah… right, Yamamoto… But—_

The name reminded him of his other friends, and a stream of memories flooded into his mind, making him to remember his hometown. This place… wasn't Namimori, he realized. This wasn't his house, nor did he remember this place being a hospital. So, the question formed in his mind and all he had to do was to voice it to get his answer.

"Wh—," he felt something hurting his throat as he tried to vibrate the air in his throat to make out the words, but his throat felt too dry and itched, so he coughed instead. He took the offered water and drank it greedily. He could feel the cool water washed off his throat.

"So, what was it?" the male asked once he finished drinking off the water. His throat still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as before.

"Wh-Where… is this…?" he tried to ask and the voice came out as hoarse, though not as bad as before. He couldn't remember anything but darkness. His mind seemed to be slow in processing his memory since he couldn't remember anything on how he got here and why he was hurt.

The man beside him patted the girl's head, who took a seat beside the male. "You're in my house," he said, "You were injured pretty badly when the townspeople found you. Had they found you a minute later, you would've died out of blood loss. I was even surprised that you still survived."

He frowned at the male, more in confusion rather anything, really.

"Blood loss?" he repeated. He then took a good look to his body. His thin frame was bandaged up, from his shoulder to his chest and his stomach. His arms also weren't in a better state. Without looking, he figured his legs would be the same too, if the throbbing pain on his left thigh were any indication.

But, weirdly, his left leg seemed to be… numb. He wanted to see, but at the same time, fear took over him out of nowhere.

"Ah," the male started. That smile that reminded him of Yamamoto still plastered there. "I haven't introduced myself, right? I'm Mizusawa Ito. I may not look like it, but I'm this town's doctor," Ito introduced himself. He then turned to the girl and introduced her too.

"She's my daughter, Fuyu. Fuyu, introduce yourself," Ito said. The child then let out a shy smile and introduced herself.

"I'm Mizusawa Fuyu… Nice to meet you_…_"

Both of them then looked at him expectantly, making him to realize that it is his turn to introduce himself. So, that he did.

"My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi… Nice to meet you too."

* * *

"HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN!"

The booming voice of one Gokudera Hayato filled the Sawada Household, followed by the sound of flesh collided against the carpeted floor. Yamamoto Takeshi, who sat beside him, did nothing to calm his friend as he, too, felt anger—and hopelessness—built up inside him, if his tightly-clenched fists were anything to go by. Both of them were sitting inside the vacant room of one Sawada Tsunayoshi, their friend whose whereabouts was currently unknown.

By the window frame of the said room, a baby in black suit with a fedora adorned his head, Reborn, sat together with his ever present green chameleon, Leon. His eyes were shadowed by the fedora, but his little lips formed a deep frown.

Just beside the door, Fuuta sat down like a doll, hugging his big ranking book tightly as if it was his lifeline. His eyes red and marks of drying tears were visible under his eyes. Near him, sat Lambo, who looked left and right, neither understanding nor comprehending what was going on. I-pin sat down quietly with Bianchi, who watched everyone's frustration by the corner of her eyes, on Tsuna's bed.

The door suddenly opened, to reveal one Sasagawa Ryohei. He was quiet, a sight that was very much not him.

"I've taken Kyoko back home. She's with Haru now," he said solemnly. No one turned, but they all heard him. Reborn nodded after a while, but that was all. Sawada Household which was often filled with laughter and chaos now became no different than a cemetery when the owners were gone.

It was supposed to be a nice vacation trip to Okinawa, a summer vacation for Vongola Decimo's family. It all began when Nana won a lottery, a trip to Okinawa for two people. Naturally, it was for herself and her son, Tsuna, but Reborn gave an idea for all of them to go instead. However, the ticket given was only for two, and the flight was full, so Reborn, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Bianchi, and the rest was supposed to follow in the next flight.

Then, it happened.

Right before they were about to broad, the news on the plane Tsuna and Nana was on crashed and sank in the middle of the ocean was heard, the cause was unknown. No known survivor was founded, as the bodies were also disappeared deep into the ocean. The wreckage of the plane couldn't even be founded, as the exact location became unknown. Search parties were already dispatched, but still no update on the progress.

They hoped, really hoped, that both of them survived. The Vongola and its allies already pulled some strings, but the result was still unknown.

Reborn had a thought that the crash was planned, but the list of suspects was too long for any of them to actually do anything. So, all they could do for now is to wallow in self pity and hope than Tsuna and his mother were saved.

Waiting had never felt this horrible.

* * *

"So they found me drifting by the sea shore?"

Fuyu nodded shyly at him as she put down his food from the tray she brought to the side of his futon for easy access. The food was nothing special, only a bowl of rice porridge, considering his condition. A pot of green tea and a mug was prepared nearby.

"W-When they took you h-here, y-you looked bad a-and pale," she stuttered out, face flushed in red. "A-Actually, t-there was another p-person t-they brought… A w-woman that looks l-like you."

Tsuna widened his visible eye in realization. His mother! How could he forget about her!

He then remembered fire and explosion, also the chaos that happened back in the plane before he blacked out. They—

"Where is she now!" he asked suddenly and lurched his body forward, making Fuyu flinched in surprise and made himself enveloped in pain. He groaned out when he felt the pain and backed down a bit.

"_Chichi_ is a-attending her r-right now. H-He put her in t-the room n-next door," she said, looking apologetically at his as she did so. Tsuna wanted to stand, to run to her place, to find that she is okay, but his leg seemed to disobey his brain. He couldn't move his left leg, no matter what he did. He could feel his right leg, but to actually stand, he needed his left leg. Frustrated, he took the blanket off to see what actually happened to his leg. Previous fear was forgotten.

He didn't notice the warned look that Fuyu had on her face before it was too late.

He was wearing nothing but his boxer, which he already expected. His right leg was bandaged heavily, from his thigh to his knee, and around his ankle. Bruises and scratches were visible, but it was already expected too since his body and arms were not in a much better condition. He had thought that his left leg wouldn't be in a different state, so he expected that his leg was badly injured and bandaged through and through.

He didn't expect to _not_ see his left leg, from his mid-thigh down to his foot. He didn't _see_ it, at all. His left mid-thigh was heavily bandaged, and blood was still thickly visible on the white cloth, seeping in to the _futon_.

"Eh…?" was all that he could mutter out before he shakily reach out to his mid-thigh, carefully lined the bloodied cloth down. He touched the _futon_, the spot where the rest of his leg should be, expecting it to only be _invisible_ but still _there_. His draw a shaky breath, his eyes couldn't focus and he felt his tears were about to fall down. When he didn't touch anything, he inhaled sharply and his tears fell. His breathing become ragged and his sight blurred, before he let out a frustrated, heart-wrenching scream. His pain was forgotten.

"AAAAAAAARRRRGGGGH!"

Quickly after his loud scream, Ito came by running. He was alarmed, but he calmed down after seeing that it was Tsuna's scream, and seeing his condition and his loss of a left leg was visible, he carefully went to the young male and patted him on the back, gently and in a comforting way.

Tsuna's hands were in front of him, shaking heavily. His tears fell, dripping down without a hint of stopping any sooner. His visible eye was transfixed to the remains of his left leg, which now only existed to his mid-thigh. His hand slowly went to his head, gripping both side of his hair, before he let out a scream again.

"M-My leg… MY LEG!" he cried out, as he buried his head in his arm. Ito pulled him in a comforting embrace, taking his head to touch the older man's broad chest. Fuyu, too, let out a tear or two, as she could feel Tsuna's despair and anguish. Tsuna cried and cried, barely registering the comforting act of both Mizusawa. He kept crying, until he was exhausted and darkness took him for another ride.

* * *

Ito closed the door behind him, letting the young Sawada to rest inside the room. Fuyu watched his father closed the door to the young male's room with furrowed brows. She still had tears by the corner of her eyes, but that was all.

"I h-hope he'll e-eat…" Fuyu stuttered out silently, not wanting to disturb the young male's rest behind the door. Ito began to walk away from the room, with Fuyu following behind him.

"I wonder what happened," Ito said absently, as he opened another door, to a room not far from where the male teen's one. Inside, a woman whose look was similar to the teen's slept soundlessly on a _futon_ not unlike the boy's. Her short brown hair scattered around her scalp, resting about by the side of her face. Her skin was pale, too pale to be healthy. Even in one look, Ito could conclude that this woman and the boy were nothing but mother and son.

"They must be together before whatever happened to them happens… It must be some big accident, considering the boy's condition," Ito muttered out as he came closer the woman. Upon closer look, the woman seemed to support a bruise on her arm and some scratches here and there, but none too serious. The most they have to worry about is a concussion and a trauma, so it got the brunet doctor thinking…

"But how come she wasn't badly injured like that boy?"

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**~|To Be Continued|~**

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**

**Words You Might Not Know :**

_Futon: _traditional style of Japanese bedding consisting of padded mattresses and quilts pliable enough to be folded and stored away during the day.

_Haori : _a lightweight silk jacket used to help keep the kimono clean and dry. Usually worn as an outerwear.

_Chichi :_ Father.

**Sapphire09 :** Tsuna lost his right leg! *cries* Nana was unconscious, and the Guardians are tense!

For all of you who don't like OCs, please forgive me. This story won't be able to go on unless I made them, since Tsuna is supposed to strayed away, so he was bound to meet new characters.

The time line is, for sure, after the Ring Battle. But, I still haven't decided on the rest. I wanted this to be after the battle with Shimon, but before Tsuna had his ceremony going, so Nono is still in charge... Hmm, what to do?

Tsuna seemed to be OOC here, I know, but after a great accident like that, it was bound to happen, right? He was woozy when he woke up for the first time, that's why he didn't ask about where he was sooner, or to ask who the Mizusawa(s) were. The thought crossed, but then he was taken by surprise with his reduced sight, so yeah...

When Tsuna found out about his left leg, I was torn on choosing which scream suited him best. I was tempted on choosing 'HIIIEEE!' but it didn't seem right. 'AAAARRRGGH!' sounded better, but just not 'Tsuna'-ish. Mere description doesn't seem to be enough, so I just need to choose, so I choose the latter. I hope it doesn't ruin much of Tsuna's character. His character is already ruined as it is... Gomen.

Nana was with him, by some miracle (or something or the other, I'll explain in the next chapter). Wonder what happened to her... Hmm?

Before you said anything about how it was impossible for Reborn to leave Tsuna's side, let's just say he relented on giving Tsuna some quality time with his mother, considering she was quite worried for him (in the anime, at least... Or is it just me?). That's why Reborn and the rest was about to follow in the next flight, and all of them will have fun in Okinawa, but then it happened... Wow, poor Reborn...

Well, if you still can't accept that, just pretend Reborn gotten nice... Can you? Yes? No ...Maybe?...No?

Hmm... What else... Oh, that's right! Hibari, I doubt he'll be mourning together with the 'herbivores', so I didn't add him in. Chrome is mourning, but she had Mukuro to cheer her up... Or maybe Ken? Chikusa? Anyway, she wasn't there because of the three of them (Mukuro, Ken, Chikusa), 'nuff said.

The figure in Tsuna's dream, in the beginning of the chapter, is something that will be revealed later. No, it's not Mukuro, if you're wondering. It's no one, but at the same time it's someone... Okay, am I spoiling too much?

At last, but not least, please leave a review! Your critics will improve this story, and encouragement will make me write faster!


	2. Code 01: Sotto la Luce Della Luna

**Sapphire09 :** Here it is, another chapter!

You really made my day with you wondrous reviews! So, I tried to update as soon as I could! So, please, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Reborn, only the OC in this story.

**WARNING: **Grammar and OOC-ness.

**

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~|Due Cieli|~  
**_(Two Skies)  
by Sapphire09

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_

_"There are things people can't accept, even if they do understand them."_

Arthrun Zala_ (__**Gundam SEED**__)  
_

**

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TARGET I  
**_The Darkest Sky of Night_**

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Code ****01**_ - __**Sotto la Luce Della Luna d'Argento**__**

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**_

Tsuna woke up to the sound of music, a violin, he thought. The sound was, by all means, calming. But, when the memory of his recent discovery flashed in his mind, he was anything but calm. He straightened up, yet was stopped by the sudden jolt of pain all over his body. He groaned out, before he realized the music no longer could be heard.

"Don't move too much or your wounds will reopen again, boy," a voice said, familiar yet new. He turned to see the brunet doctor—Ito, was it?—helping him to sit properly without making him feel worse than he already was, the violin was visible by his side. After he was positioned, Tsuna's view fell on a spot of his blanket, where his left leg should be. He still couldn't feel anything, nothing, on his left leg. He bit his lower lip in silent frustration, daring to hope that his memories were lies, a mere dream. But, when his shaky hand reached out to touch that spot, to feel the hollow air beneath it, he knew it was real.

"I'm sorry," he heard the man beside him said. His voice seemed apologetic enough for him to believe that he really felt sorry for his condition. But, by some reason, that feeling didn't make him feel better. It only made him felt worse, since it felt like there was nothing anyone could do for his condition. He wasn't about to voice his dislike, so he tried to look away, and he was reminded…

His hand that once rested on the blanket reached up to his bandaged right eye. Ito took notice of this.

"…What happened to my eye?" Tsuna asked. His tone was nothing louder than a sort whisper. The hand which rested on his bandaged eye was shaking, as if scared to hear the answer. Ito closed his eyes for a moment before he answered. His tone was nowhere near cheerful.

"Your right eye was quite damaged. It's not irreparable, but I don't think you'll be able to have your sight back," the doctor said solemnly. Upon hearing that, Tsuna's hands curled in, shaking as they did. His head bowed down, as low as he was able to. His curled hands already lifted to both side of his head, gripping his brown hair in frustration.

"Sawada-kun?" the doctor asked worriedly at his patient's shaken form. He was about to reach him, but Tsuna stopped him.

"Please, leave me alone for a while," he said shakily. His tone flat, very unlike his usual tone of speech. He seemed to hold back his tears, and he was trying too hard.

Ito nodded in understanding, even though he knew the young boy wasn't about to acknowledge it. He was about to leave before Tsuna spoke up again, his head never rose up.

"The woman… who was with me… My mom… Is she alright?" he asked quietly. Shaken as it was, his tone was still stretched with hope. Ito looked back to his young patient and answered, his tone was compassionate now.

"She's okay. She's still very weak, but that was expected. The most injury she has is only cuts, and maybe some bruises, but that's all. She should be fine," the brunet doctor said. He saw Tsuna nodded slightly and relaxed for a bit, but that was enough for Ito. He soon opened the door and left his young patient to his thought.

Soon after he heard the sound of the closing door, he lifted his head slightly. He was cheered by the thought that his mother was going to be alright, but he was still felt anguish enveloping his heart. All of this, everything felt too surreal for him, like if he just closed his eyes, he would find that this was a dream. He could still remember when he was walking together with his friends, chasing Lambo or I-pin around, and even the simple thing as enjoying the view of Namimori together with his—as Reborn said—_family_.

Now he wouldn't be able to do any of that, not without burdening them…

Tsuna felt another round of tears were about to come out as he thought of that. He let his back fell to the _futon_ again, despite the aches that the action would produce. After his head hit the pillow, he lifted his right arm to cover his eyes and let the tears fell silently, letting the humidity to damp the bandages on his hand and eye.

He missed his friends, he realized in the midst of darkness. He missed them so much, it hurts. He missed Reborn's harshness, Gokudera-kun's and Yamamoto-san's banter, Ryohei _onii_-san's extremities, Lambo's mischievous deeds, and even I-Pin's kindness. He also missed Kyoko's smile, Haru's cheerfulness, and hell, even Hibari-san's scariness. He even missed Chrome _and _Mukuro, for God knows why! Should he even add Shoichi, or even Enma in his list?

He missed everyone, that is true, but he didn't think he could go back to Namimori.

He was self-conscious of his condition. He remembered how Ito-san had reacted. That doctor had pitied him, sympathize him, he knew. And he was scared that his friends would react in the same way. He would never want that. If they just casted one look, one glance of that look to him, he would rather choose dying.

He wanted to see them, but he couldn't return—no, didn't _want_ to return…

Such contradictive—and cowardly—thought, he chuckled bitterly.

"_Then don't return."_

A voice reverberated out of nowhere. He opened his eyes and tried to sit, but he couldn't as pain took him down again. He wasn't supposed to move so much, and sitting already took much out of him, especially without help. He looked around, sweeping the room as he could to find the source of that voice.

"Who's there?" he asked, hoping for the echoing voice to answer his call. That voice… He knew that voice sounded familiar, but whose?

"…_I wonder who, indeed,"_ the voice replied vaguely, almost sarcastically. Tsuna looked around again to the best of his ability, to find nothing, not even a figure of shadow or anything that define a presence of a human being. Either anyone who owned the voice was by his blind spot or the voice was coming from nowhere. His hyper intuition didn't find any single entity was present either.

He concentrated to locate the source of the voice, and it was then he felt himself going lighter. After the darkness, he saw a vast blueness surrounded him, with sparkles that made everything looked crystal-like, as if he was inside a vast, gigantic, crystal.

He remembered this scene.

"This is…" he muttered out, almost in disbelief. This was the scene he saw when he was unconscious for the first time. Then, he realized another thing; his right eye saw this, the eye that should've been blind. His left leg, too, was present and able to move, despite the fact that the tranquil that enveloped him shouldn't have let him to have his sense of touch. He wasn't in pain, nor was he uncomfortable. It felt like a state of numbness, where he couldn't feel anything against his sense of touch. He didn't know what to feel, either to be delighted or scared.

"_Those weren't real, you know?"_ that voice said again, as if reverberated, echoed through the crystal's surface to the inside. _"Once you wake up, they'll disappear together with this...dream," _the voice said again, sounding a bit sorrowful this time.

Tsuna _knew_ that he knew that voice, but somehow he couldn't place an image, or a name for the owner of that voice. That voice—

"Who?" Tsuna asked again, this time a bit more forceful. That voice, he knew that voice! But, even after he wrecked his memory, no name nor face came up to the surface of his mind. He just _knew_ that he knew_._

The voice gave no reply, and Tsuna could feel a force pushed him out of that tranquility, bringing him back to the darkness. When he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at the wooden ceiling of the room he had been staying in. True to his—_or was it her_?—words, his right eye returned to darkness, and he knew that his left leg was no more.

"What was… that?" he asked to himself. _Was it really a dream? But… It didn't feel like a dream… Then, what was it?_

_And that voice… Whose was it?_

Looking at a spot on his blanket, he let his mind drifted to the accident. His hand clenched upon remembering what his left leg had become, or what was left of it. He gritted his teeth and bit his lower lip until it bled.

He remembered the explosion that happened back at the plane. Had he not have his intuition, he wouldn't be able to survive such calamity. He had swallowed the Dying Will Pill in instinct, seconds only before the explosion happened. He took his mother with him in his arms, protected her from the explosion. He remembered that she lost her consciousness out of shock when the plane exploded.

After that, everything was a blur. He remembered the sudden burning sensation on his thigh and eye back then when he fell to the ocean, which was gotten worse in time and made him wished for death. But, he refused to let go of his mother and fell into the oblivion with that thought in mind. He guessed that he kept holding on to his mother, until they were strayed here.

If his mother was saved, then he guessed—even though it was a terrible loss—it was worth it. He knew how close his mother was to Death back then, too close. He wouldn't ever forgive himself had she died then, because he was _there_, right beside her.

He realized that the explosion wasn't an accident. It was a part of a scheme, though whose, he didn't know. All he knew for sure was whoever did it was targeting him.

The grief he felt weighed ten-folds upon remembering the innocent lives that he couldn't save back at the plane. At that time, he couldn't bring himself to care for them, as his mother came first. _Was it wrong of him, _he thought. _Should he let his mother die to save others? _

The thought of leaving his mother to die pained him far too much.

The sound of knocking brought him out from his musing. The door was opened slightly, and a head poked in. It was the girl, that doctor's daughter, he remembered. _Her name, what was—ah, right. Fuyu. Winter_.

The brunette shyly walked in, a tray of food in hand. She kneeled by his side and putting the food near him. Tsuna then noticed the cold food that he hadn't touched all day—he didn't even remember the food was _there—_by the side of his _futon, _right beside the new batch of food that Fuyu had brought. The porridge didn't seem to be edible anymore, now that it was cold. Fuyu also replaced the cold tea with a fresh and warm one. Tsuna was about to apologize, as he didn't mean to be rude to not eat what was given to him, but the child spoke ahead of him.

"P-Please eat t-this t-time, o-okay? Y-You need t-the energy," the child stuttered out, seemingly to be genuinely worried about his health, instead of began complaining on his rudeness. Her round, honey colored eyes looked at him with deep concern. Before he could say anything—though it wasn't like he had something to say anyway, Fuyu already looked away and put the cold, uneaten food the tray and stood. She bowed before she started to walk away and about to leave the room, but just as she was about to reach the door, Tsuna spoke up in a hurry.

"_Arigatou_," he said loudly, though not so loud to be heard by those who were outside the boundary of the wooden wall, but still loud enough for Fuyu to hear clearly. Fuyu, who was taken by surprise, looked back to the teen with rounded eyes. She saw a small smile gracing the other's lips, and it eased her a bit. Fuyu returned the smile with her own, as well as murmuring something that Tsuna couldn't quite catch, but it seemed to be along the lines of 'you're welcome' or such, before she reached for the door and disappeared from Tsuna's sight.

As soon as the child was gone, Tsuna turned to the food that she just brought. It was a bowl of chicken soup, which looked quite tasty. Tsuna didn't feel quite hungry yet, but he was willing to eat it anyway. Fuyu was right; he needed the energy, especially since so much had happened to him.

He tried to sit up—really tried, but he kept falling to his back. It was after he tried for a few times that Fuyu came back, panting as if she had ran around the house.

"_G-Gomen_!" she exclaimed apologetically as she want closer to him and helped him up. "I-I forgot t-that you s-shouldn't b-be able to s-sit b-by yourself yet." After he was straightened up, Tsuna said another 'thank-you', which resulted in another inaudible murmur from Fuyu.

Fuyu stayed by his side as he ate, helping him to pour out the tea she had brought before. The room was filled with silence, with the only exception of the sound of ceramic hitting against metal and the sound of water being poured. Tsuna, who had been used to chaos and noise, couldn't stand the silence.

"So," he began, in between his eating activity, "How old are you?"

That came out of nowhere, Tsuna realized. But, he needed to find a topic for them to talk about. He realized that he knew nothing about the family that practically saved his life. He could start with the child, right?

"E-Eight," she answered curtly. Tsuna could only smile at her short answer.

"Oh? What grade are you now, then?" he asked again before taking another spoonful of soup as he waited for the shy girl to answer. It took a while, which made Tsuna a bit worried, but the girl finally spoke up.

"I-I didn't go to school," she said, almost sadly. Tsuna could only snap his head to her direction in surprise. '_Didn't go to school?'_ he thought. He was sure that she should be in around third grade of Elementary school or so.

"Why?"

Fuyu was a bit reluctant to answer, but Tsuna nudged her to do so. So she did.

"B-Because I c-couldn't," she said, "M-My teachers d-disliked me, a-and I d-don't have f-friends. _Chichi_ was the one w-who t-taught me s-since. I-I was h-home schooled," she told him almost sadly, yet she kept her voice even.

Upon hearing that, Tsuna was surprised. Sure, he was known as 'Dame-Tsuna', and he barely had any friends. At that time, no one liked him, but they didn't hate him either. His teachers may have given up on him, but it wasn't like they disliked him. It was all changed when he met Reborn, though. Even though he was the same 'Dame-Tsuna' as before, but he had friends to make his days at school bright, instead of the usual monochrome days before he met Reborn.

Tsuna didn't know what to say, so he continued eating the soup, and before he knew it, the bowl was empty. Fuyu quickly grabbed the empty bowl and helped him to his back again before she quickly left. Tsuna felt that he had asked something that he shouldn't have asked.

"_Could you just stop that?"_

The voice echoed again, startling him and he felt as if he was going to have a heart attack. It frustrated him now that he _knew_ he knew that voice, but was unable to identify the owner. His mind always racked for any identification, any clue that could lead to, at least, an image or a name.

"_It's useless,"_ the voice said again, as if knowing that Tsuna had his brain working far more intensely than usual only to find a name. Tsuna furrowed his eyebrows together at the voice's words.

"Why is it useless? And, stop what?" he muttered in reply. Tsuna knew how weird and how insane this may look on him, but for now, he couldn't care less.

"_Because you never knew me," _the voice said simply, his tone indicated as if it was a general knowledge. Tsuna's eyebrows creased even deeply than before, more in confusion rather than anything.

"But I _know_ I know your voice!" he spat out, yet he still kept his volume as low as possible, ignoring the fact that the voice didn't answer his second question. He didn't need for the doctor to come and began thinking that he also lost his mind. But, he guessed, remembering that he _heard_ voices inside his head, and he also talked back to the said voice_; _shouldn't he consider himself that he had lost his mind?

"…_Saa,"_ the voice said again, like it didn't care about the fact. Tsuna frowned then and about to ask again, but his intention was stopped short since the door was opened and the brunet doctor came in to check on him.

"Mizusawa-san," he said in greeting. The doctor replied with a smile, and that got him thinking of Yamamoto—again. The thought brought up a pain for his heart, as he remembered his earlier thought of Namimori and his friends.

"What's wrong, Sawada-kun?" the doctor asked, concern latched in every word he said. It seemed he noticed his inner conflict. Tsuna was about to say nothing, but he couldn't lie, even to himself. It wasn't nothing, never is.

He wanted his friends back. He missed them so much that it hurts. He wanted to be with his friends—or family, as Reborn said. He—

Wait.

Tsuna just realized something. His fingers were bare. He didn't feel any familiar metal sticking around his finger when he clenched his fists.

"Eh?"

Ito, who was still concerned, asked again, "What is it?"

Tsuna checked his fingers again, and he still saw nothing. He checked his neck, though he was pretty sure it wasn't there. When he found nothing, he could feel his paranoia coming along. Now that he thought about it, there was nothing around his fingers ever since he woke up to this room. So, he had to ask.

"Where is my ring?"

**

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~|To Be Continued|~

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**

**Words That You Might Not Know :**

_Sotto la luce della luna d'argento : _Under the Light of The Silver Moon

_Onii-san : _Older brother

**Sapphire09**: Tsuna's Sky Ring! No~!

Wonder what happens... And that voice inside Tsuna's head... Hummm~

The Guardians didn't make an appearance in this chapter, sorry if you're all disappointed ...

Nana also haven't made an appearance (if you count out the previous chapter, though.). Maybe in next one?

Now we know what happens to Tsuna and his mother! Poor Tsuna, so many emotional conflict!

I don't know if it's just me, but I think Tsuna would do that if he were to have sudden disabilities. He knows that he wasn't alone, and he could turn to his friends, but at the same time, he was afraid on becoming a burden. He wouldn't want to come back to his friends if it meant them to see his disability. It would made him feel bad. Just because he understood, doesn't mean he could accept it (this chapter's quote, by the way.)

**Answer To Your Reviews:**

**The Sky's Guardians: **Thank you! Here's an update :) **SilentDarkness101 :** Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. I actually thinking on waiting it out. There won't be any battle scene in this story until, maybe, TARGET III, and it'll be a while. **Corrupted Arcobaleno:** Thank you! Well, now you know what happened! **Polar Pig : **Surprising, right? lol. Well, here is a new chapter! **LilyMoonstone : **It was cruel, wasn't it... Well, don't worry though, I do know what I'm doing :)** Vongola Primo27: **Thank you! I'm glad that it's still good. I was a bit afraid I would get many flames for ruining Tsuna's character...** :** I hope so too. Let's just see, why don't we? **doremishine itsuko : **hmm, I couldn't really decide that now. The Shimon family arc hasn't ended yet, and I don't really want to made things up. I don't think this story will have romance, sorry :) **Mel-Chama : **Thank you! Well, here's an update :) **Chariot330 : **lol. Well, here's the new Chapter! (By the way, makacih ya ficnya. Loved it!)** Yuki949 : **I hope so, too!

At last, please tell me what you think of this chapter! Your reviews will be the best birthday present ever! LOL.

Every critic will improve this story, and every reviews will drive me to update faster!


	3. Code 02: I Segni Delle Stelle

**Sapphire09 : **Another chapter, comin' up!

Again, thank you all for the reviews! It really was a wonderful birthday present! Yay!

Like I promised, I tried to update as soon as I can. So, enjoy~

**DISCLAIMER: **Still do not own KHR! Only the kind ol' Ito-san and Fuyu-chan!

**WARNING: **again, GRAMMAR and OOC-ness.

**

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~|Due Cieli|~  
**_(Two Skies)  
by Sapphire09

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_

"_They say that we should love ourself first before other people learn to love us. But it's not as easy as it seems. Sometimes, we need someone to accept us and love us first. Then, we would learn to see ourselves through that person's eyes and learn to love ourself.__"_

Sohma Yuki_ (**Fruits Basket**)  
_

**

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TARGET I  
**_The Darkest Sky of Night_**

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Code ****02**_ –__** I Segni Delle Stelle**__**

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**_

The darkening sky beaded with stars outside didn't bring any of them out of their sorrowful mood. In fact, it only brought them down deeper into their grief-stricken mood. None of them moved from their place, as if they were rooted to the carpeted floor. None of them said anything, not to each other, not to themselves. All caught up in their own thought of loss.

"I'll go check on Kyoko. I'll see you tomorrow at school, to the extreme," the _Hare no Shugosha _said at last, breaking the thick, sorrowful silence that had filled the room with his—albeit forced—cheerful goodbye before he left without another word. Reborn also disappeared from his previous spot at the window not long after the extreme boxer left.

"_Ano shibahu atama_… Did he really think we could go to school when _Juudaime_'s whereabouts is unknown like this!" Gokudera spat out in anger, even though he knew the other wouldn't be able to hear him. Yamamoto only looked at his temperamental friend in silence before he turned to the three sleeping children, sleeping side by side, dividing the bed to three. It had been quite late, after all, and there still no word from the search party.

"It's late. You should go home," Bianchi said to both of them after a while, "I'll take care of the children here."

Gokudera, still caught up in his self-blame, didn't hear anything that his sister said, although the word 'ignoring' will be better suited. There was no way he would move. He lived alone anyway, so he figured that it was okay for him to stay, even if he has to spend the night with his sister. Yamamoto, however, has his dad to think about.

"I'll stay here," the _Ame no Sugosha_ exclaimed with his trademark smile, though it looked more somber and forced than his usual smile. "I'll call my father. I'm sure he'll understand," he said again. Seeing how worried and vexed both Guardians were, Bianchi could see that it was better to let them stay, even though it might not change anything.

Suddenly, Reborn appeared again by the window, a cell phone in hand. Both Guardians and Bianchi stared at him in surprise, before they realized that Reborn's beady black eyes stared at them intently. They looked at the Sun Arcobaleno in anticipation, waiting for him to start talking.

"I just received words from the search party," he said as he flipped his open phone close, "They said they might be going to be able to find Tsuna through his Sky Ring. They haven't got any firm signal to actually locate it, but there were flickers of it for the past hours since the crash happened, and it had been moving. They weren't sure of the flickers, but still, the chance of Tsuna being alive no longer zero percent."

That brought the Guardians out from their deep hole of despair and Bianchi couldn't wish for anything more. Reborn even had a small smile on his face upon giving the great news, and none of them were less happy than the others upon knowing that not all hope was lost.

Even if the raise was only 1 percent, or even 0,000001 percent, it was enough for them to regain their hope.

* * *

"Ring? What ring?" Ito asked in confusion, but then when he saw the distraught in his patient's eyes, he realized it might be an important possession. But, he never saw anything that resembled a ring upon the arrival of this patient of his.

"Ring—m-my ring! WHERE IS MY RING!" Tsuna asked, yelling his question out as he felt himself controlled by paranoia. His hands were shaking, one was gripping his head and the other one gripped the top of the blanket. He could feel his tears were gathering at the corner of his eye, while his bandaged one was dampened even more by his second tears.

Was it not enough that he lost an eye and leg, and almost lost his mother too? Must he also lose his ring—and _Nuts?_

"Calm down, Sawada-kun," Ito said as he put a hand on Tsuna's shoulder in attempt to calm the boy down. It didn't do much good, since the younger brunet slapped away his hand not a second after he touched his shoulder.

"Calm down!" Tsuna exclaimed in disbelief, his tears were falling now. "Calm down! I can't calm down! That ring… That ring was—"

For Tsuna, despite the fact that he refused it at first, the ring has been an important part of his life. It was the ring that he could obtain thanks to his friends' hard work, their tears and blood. In his journey to the Future, it also helped him to survive, alongside with Nuts. In the fight with Shimon too, the ring that was remade and fused with Nuts also helped him to get through it. That ring was the thing that connected him with his friends. To say that that ring was his life was not an overstatement. And now, he needed it more than ever, even if merely as something to soothe him.

"Sawada-kun—Sawada-kun, look at me," Ito said as he forced the younger brunet to look to his direction, directly to his eye. "Look at me," he repeated. He saw that the younger brunet's eye was filled with panic and dread, and was about to hyperventilate, and he couldn't let his patient hyperventilating for how.

"Calm down. We'll find it, okay? We'll find it," he said soothingly, calming the hysterical boy and preventing him from stressing out and worsening his already bad condition. It wouldn't be good if he opened up the wounds that were healing beneath those bandages wrapped around him.

Under his hold, the younger boy gradually calmed down. When he was sure that his patient was calmed enough, he released his hold slowly and backed off a bit, staring at the younger boy with worry. The other's arm fell to his side and his grip on the blanket also loosened, relaxed even if by a bit. Tears still streamed down from his big, honey-brown eyes and his lips were quivering, but it was expected. Ito let out a soft sigh of relief to see that he was calmed. By judging how devastated he was, the ring that his patient had lost must be very significant for him.

"Are you alright?" Ito asked in concern. He noticed how the younger brunet bit his lower lip to stop the trembling of his lips and how the stream of tears were stopped, but he also saw the grief and loss in his eyes, as if he had lost his other leg and eye, and was told that his mother died. It was after a while that the other nodded curtly, but he let his bangs overshadowed his upper face afterward, which didn't really made his nod the least bit convincing, but he bought it anyway.

"If you think so," Ito muttered out in acceptance. He then held out new bundles of bandages and replaces the bandages that were wrapped around him with it. Tsuna, meanwhile, just sat there in silence, watching the doctor as he begun unwrapping the bandages. When it was his left thigh's turn to be unwrapped, Tsuna looked away, not wanting to see. Ito glanced up when he noticed his patient's understandable behavior, before carefully removing the blood-covered bandage and replacing it with a new one.

"You could use an artificial leg, you know?" Ito said suddenly as he bandaged Tsuna's thigh. Tsuna, despite taken by surprise, controlled himself not to look at his thigh. It was terrifying enough to see the lack of a leg; he didn't need to see under the bandage.

"Artificial… leg?" Tsuna asked slowly, still taking his sight away from his leg, only sparing a small glance to the doctor before looking away again.

"Yeah. Artificial leg," the doctor repeated. Before Tsuna could ask more, Fuyu came in with a bucket that was as tall as her knees colored in light green. Looking at how she dragged it, Tsuna concluded it must be filled with something.

"_Chichi_? H-Here is the w-warm water you a-asked. I f-filled it h-half full, j-just like y-you said," she said as she dragged the bucket closer to her father's side. Ito smiled in gratitude as he accepted the bucket.

"Oh, Fuyu. Thank you for bringing it here," he said to Fuyu, before turning back to his previous bandaging activity. Without being told, Fuyu kneeled by her father's side and took the used, bloody bandages her father put on the floor and soaked them into the bucket.

"Ah, Fuyu!" the brunet doctor suddenly called, making the shy girl looked up to face her father, "Would you go check on the other patient? She should be about to wake by now. Leave the rest to me."

Fuyu nodded lightly before she left her washing activity and left the room, her light steps filled the room before it disappeared to the back of the door. After a while, Ito finished the bandaging and covered Tsuna with blanket, and was about to soak the last piece of bandage into the water when Tsuna spoke.

"Mizusawa-san" he called, "Earlier, you said something about artificial leg. What is that?"

* * *

Fuyu lightly ran to her destination, the _other patient'_s room that her father had told her to check. Only a couple of steps before reaching the door did the small brunette stopped her running and tip-toed into the room, which were only a few steps from _Sawada-kun's_ room.

She silently walked in and checked the woman's condition, who has been confirmed as _Sawada-kun_'s mother. Fuyu slowly kneeled down by the woman's side and just stared at the unmoving body soundlessly.

She could see the striking resemblance of the sleeping woman with the disabled boy, counting out the closed eyes and hairstyle. The shape of the face was similar enough, also with the hair color and the shape of the nose. The shape of her lips, although hers were pale, also bared a similarity. Fuyu may be a child, but she could see that they _are_ nothing but mother and son, and _Sawada-kun_ took her mother's appearance to boot.

"She's pretty," she muttered out as she touched the frail woman's face with her little fingers, taking in the beauty. She seemed to be a nice person, a kind and caring woman. The woman that was lying in front of her may not has the outer-worldly or godly beauty, but in Fuyu's innocent eyes, she may as well be an angel. Her skin was soft, despite how pale it was, and warm against her fingers. Her short brown hair was colored not unlike her son's unruly one, yet colored a few shades darker; making her wonder if she had the same shade of color as eyes, or would her eyes colored like her son's. There was also something about the woman that made Fuyu to like her in one look.

_Is this how a mother looked like? _

Not a second later, Fuyu heard a muffled voice, not unlike one of a groan. She watched as the woman under her finger flinched and showed a movement of her eyebrows, even if it was a slight movement. She noticed the eyes beneath her closed eyelids were moving, a sign of consciousness. After waiting for another second, those eyes fluttered open, revealing a pair of chocolate brown eyes she remembered _Sawada-kun_ was having—at least the visible one. She spared the woman one more look before she smiled brightly. Without another thought, she scrambled to her feet and hurriedly called for her father, running out of the room as she did.

"_Chichi!"

* * *

_

Tsuna's question wasn't answered for a while, as the brunet doctor seemed to think that washing the bandages out was his top priority. Receiving only silence as answer, Tsuna was about to ask again, but then Fuyu suddenly came running, barging back through the door.

"_C-Chichi!"_ she gasped, panting as she called for her father. Ito, alarmed by the sudden call, turned to his daughter. He didn't need to ask what was wrong, as Fuyu took the initiative to explain.

"T-The woman… S-Sawada-kun's mother… S-She was w-waking up!"

Without wasting more time, he let the bandage he was holding drowned into the basket and stood up. Before he could take a step forward, however, he felt a tug at the hem of his pants. He looked down, to see the young Sawada lunging forward, tugging the hem with all his power with his one hand, while the other hand supported his body to keep him from falling forward. His visible eye seemed to be in unease and worried, yet determined.

"Let me see her!" he asked, or perhaps demanded was a better word. His concern over the health of his mother was something to be praised on, Ito could see. Upon the mention of his mother, all thought on his missing ring and other things seemed to be replaced with concern over his mother's well-being. However, in his current condition, Ito doubted he could move much. But, that look on his visible eye… so determined, unwavering—

"Fuyu," he called his daughter, who still stood by the door and regaining her breaths, after a few seconds of contemplation. "Take the wheelchair and bring it here. Help Sawada-kun and then take him to his mother's room. I'll go on ahead," he said again before he gently removed the young Sawada's grip, smiling in encouragement as he did so, and left the room in a hurry, presumably to the older Sawada's room.

Fuyu quickly did as she was told, leaving the room only to come back moments later with a wheelchair and few blankets. She helped Tsuna to sit on the wheelchair, which was quite hard despite how thin the teen was, yet still she managed, and wheeled him outside the room.

Tsuna was a bit surprised that the doctor heeded his request without any protest. He had thought that he wouldn't allow it, and he was ready to fight with tooth and nails for it. After a moment of hard work, he managed to get himself on the wheelchair with the help of Fuyu, a thin brown blanket was veiled over his lap, hiding his legs from view. Another layer of cloth, now colored in pastel, was thrown at him by the young Mizusawa, this time a bit bigger than the one veiled over his laps, but it seemed lighter.

"P-Put it a-around y-your shoulder," was what Fuyu said. He then remembered that all he wore was his shorts and bandages, nothing else. So, he did as he was told, putting the cream-colored cloth to obscure his bare torso from view, before Fuyu pushed the wheelchair out from the room he had come to know.

His worry over his mother's well-being filled his mind entirely, so he found himself arrived to the room where his mother was laid without himself knowing. Upon seeing his mother there, lying while being tended by the kind doctor, he couldn't help himself but to feel a sense of want to get close to her, to hold her in his arms, hug her, to make sure that she was really alright.

Also to cry on her mother, relieving the stress and the loss he felt, not unlike a little child.

"_Okaa-san!"_ he cried out. Hearing his cry, Sawada Nana glanced to him, and a bright smile appeared on her face, a smile he had come to miss so much, now he realized when he saw it. The brunet doctor then scooted aside, letting the younger Sawada to be by his mother's side.

"Tsu-kun!"

Once he was brought by Nana's side, without any warning, Tsuna let himself fell to the ground, supported only by his good knee and went to embrace his mother, his aches were forgotten. He let out a relieved sob as he held to his mother like his life was depended on it, letting his support to loosened and fall to the futon, on top of his mother. His mother, has she always been this warm?

Although surprised, Nana smiled as she slowly circled her arms around her son as he cried, sobbing meaningfully in her embrace. She rubbed his back in circles, soothing him and let him waste the tears that he could no longer hold in silence. Soft whispers and gentle words were said, and Tsuna felt like he was a child again as he cried harder, relieving everything from his heart. Her voice… it seemed like forever since he last heard it, and he missed it so much.

Mizusawa Ito smiled warmly as he watched the heart-felt scene in front of him. He thought that perhaps the young Sawada do need this, especially with the loss he had. As he watched the young Sawada cried his heart out, he was sure that yes, he does need this. Glancing sideways, he could see his daughter watched the scene from behind the wheelchair that brought the young Sawada here.

Her expression was unreadable as she clutched the wheelchair tightly until her knuckles turned white. Her hands shaking, her eyes blank.

Smiling sadly, Ito moved from his spot to where his daughter stood, patting her brown hair lovingly as brought his daughter away, out from the room to give the mother and son the privacy they need.

As Tsuna cried on and on in his mother's embrace, he could feel something become lighter in his heart, as if some of his burden was lifted. He couldn't be more thankful to know that his mother was here, alive, soothing him, caring him, _with _him.

His earlier thoughts passed his mind as he cried, but he let it passed by him. Right now, his mother is more important, because it was his mother that was _here_, and his friends were _there._ He knew that this might not seem fair for his friends, but this is how he felt. About coming back or not, he would let his mother to decide, and then he would think about it again.

In his mother's embrace, he no longer felt as lonely as before.

Yes, he wasn't alone now, as long as his mother was with him. He would face this loss, because he has his mother.

**

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~|To Be Continued|~**

**

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**

**Words That You Might Not Know :**

_I Segni Delle Stelle : _The Signs of the Stars

_Hare no Shugosha :_ Guardian of the Sun_  
_

_Ano shibahu atama : _That lawn-head (I dunno if I spell it right...)

_Juudaime : _Tenth_  
_

_Ame no Sugosha : _Guardian of the Rain_  
_

_Okaa-san : _Mother

**Sapphire09:** Nana woke up! Tsuna sure is relieved, huh? I wonder if Tsuna's reaction was too much? Gomen...

Oh, Nana just woke up, still woozy and all, and Tsuna came to her, like suddenly, and he buried his head in his mother's embrace as soon as he got close, so no chance for Nana to see his son's eyes.

The guardians were hopeful again! Dunno if that was a good thing or not... Especially with ring wasn't on Tsuna... Hummm?

I'll just make this clear; I decided to make the time line after the fight with Shimon, after **SilentDarkness101**'s encouragement in his/her review in chapter one... Besides, I already put Enma's name in the previous chapter, so yeah, no changing that...

For you who might think it was impossible for an 8 years old to help a 14 (or was it 15?) years old with one leg to a wheelchair, let's just say it was possible. Fuyu had much time and she didn't go to school, so just say that Ito made her to help the patients in his house and so she was used to do so.

**Answer To Your Reviews:**

**Katsuki: **Sorry that I replied in this chapter :) I hope you don't mind, ne? Here's an update! **Chariot330: **lol. Thank you! Here's an update! **Captivated Fairy: **aren't we all? lol. Thanks for the review! It'll be a while until I reveal it though :) Stay tune! **LilyMoonstone : **Thank you! Hum... maybe, maybe not :) **Kingyo: **Thank you! Well, Nana's reaction would be in the next chapter, so please stay tune! Again, thank you! **Reidluver: **Thank you! Glad you find it interesting :) I know! There were too many romance in here, one of the reason why I made this story. Well, he is an update! **The Sky's Guardians: **Is that so? now that you mentioned, I guess it was kinda, maybe, alike... Humm... I wonder too... **SilentDarkness101: **Well, here it is! O-ho, wait till due time, and all shall be revealed! **Kawamoyashi: **Thank you! Here's an update! **Mel-chama: **You think so? Thank you so much! **aerie-art:** Thank you so much! Here's an update! **VongolaPrimo27: **Thank you! You really think so? I'm glad! Well, here's another chapter! I hope I didn't let you down :) **VAY-hale**: Why, thank you! No problem! Well, here's another chapter! **sunafan:** Thank you! Well, here's a chapter!

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! I hope you'll keep reviewing. Remember, every critic will improve this story and every reviews drives me to write faster!

P.S. : Just a side note, I don't wish to burst your bubbles but my school is going to start after this week was over, and it would be a few helluva busy days. I doubt one weekend will be enough for me to write a chapter, and I knew I won't be able to even touch my comp or laptop when school starts, so I hope you'll be patient for the next chapter and chapters to come. They won't come as fast as my previous chapter and this one, maybe even a chapter per month. But, by no means I am going to dump this story. Never, ever! Even if I have to grit my teeth and had to burst by brain out, I would not dump this story! Especially when you seemed to like this... And I like this story too... could never dump this...

Hiksu~ Why school even have to exist?


	4. Code 03: Il Canto di un Usignuolo

**Sapphire09**: After I fight with tears and blood, I finally managed to write a chapter for this beloved story of mine. I hope you shall enjoy this to your heart's content... *faint*

**DISCLAIMER: **Still do not own KHR! Only the kind ol' Ito-san and Fuyu-chan (and another...)!

**WARNING:** GRAMMAR and OOC-ness, that's all I can think of.

**

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~|Due Cieli|~  
**_(Two Skies)  
by Sapphire09

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_

_"Everything lives by blending interconnecting and mutually influencing one another._  
_ Even a merely trivial meeting bring about changes of heart and body"_

_**XXXHolic**  
_

**

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TARGET I  
**_The Darkest Sky of Night

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_**Code ****03**_ –__** Il Canto di un Usignuolo  


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**_

After the door closed down behind him, Ito turned to face his daughter, bending down to his knee as he did so. He smiled a sad, but understanding smile as he patted the young girl's brown hair softly.

"Fuyu?" he asked softly, not more than a whisper. The child in front of him, however, still had her eyes staring down the closed door, never moving. Again, Ito could only offer a sad smile for his daughter as he enveloped her in a hug. Fuyu didn't respond at first, but then Ito could feel Fuyu's arms moving upward, clutching the white shirt he had loved to wear.

"_Chichi…_ Was that… a-a mother?" she asked softly, heard only by his ears. Again, Ito patted her head gently, running his calloused hand through the soft locks that was colored not unlike his.

"Yes, Fuyu," he answered gently. Fuyu's eyes still frozen on the closed door, blank yet calculating, contemplating.

"S-Sawada-kun… he cried. S-She didn't get m-mad…? She w-won't hit h-him for that?" Fuyu whispered again, again only for Ito's ears. Again, he hugged her.

"No, of course not, Fuyu. Of course not…"

Ito could only hug his child as he himself felt something tore his insides apart when he heard the question that was spoken with a child's innocence, a question that weighed so much on his shoulder.

"Of course not…"

* * *

For a long while, Tsuna just lay there, burying his head in the warm embrace of his beloved mother, the only thing he had left now. His mother, she was so warm it was unbelievable she just woken up from her sleep. He had shifted his weight aside, making sure his mother wouldn't be crushed under his weight, and to make sure she wouldn't notice the irregularity of his lack of leg. No, he couldn't tell her just yet, not now, when she just woken up.

He could hear his mother hummed a lullaby he often heard as a child, its name was long forgotten, as he inhaled the scent that was his mother. Tears kept pouring out of him, for reasons no longer known to him. Was it because of his mother's warmth? Was it because he was glad his mother was alright? Or… was it because he couldn't bear the guilt for almost letting his mother stand in harm's way because of him?

"_Soushite bouya wa nemuri ni tsuita…  
_(And then the little boy falls asleep…)

"_Ikizuku hai no naka no honoo…  
_(Among the ashes in the flames shining…)

"_Hitotsu… futatsu to…"  
_(First one, then two…)

His mother's soft voice sang the lyric of that lullaby, bringing peace to his once chaotic heart. Her gentle hand was running through his unruly locks softly, comfortingly. He didn't want to think of anything more, but just to enjoy this warmth, the warmth that he had taken for granted in his once peaceful life, and was forgotten when he felt he was too old for her affections.

"_Ukabu fukurami itoshii yokogao  
_(Surfaces numerous of your faces)

"_Daichi ni taruru ikusen no yume…  
_(A thousand dreams trickle back to the earth)

His good eye slowly drooped with every word she sang, slowly bringing him back to the peaceful oblivion. His tears stopped gradually as the lullaby did its job in caressing him to the serenity and warmth.

"_yume…"_

And he let his eye to close and giving himself up to the oblivion.

* * *

When Ito came in for the second time, he found the young Sawada to be asleep by his mother's side. A lullaby was sung by brunette woman even when the listener was long out, a soft and comforting lullaby it was.

"_Watashi wa inori tsuzukeru_  
(I will still continue to pray)

"_Dou ka kono ko ni ai wo…_  
(Please show this child what love is)

"_Tsunaida te ni kisu wo…"_  
(Hands sealed with a kiss)

She shifted the young Sawada's head a bit and kissed the top of his head lovingly, carefully as not to wake the young brunet. Ito couldn't bring himself to stop smiling from such scene. Before long, the brunette woman soon fell into a deep slumber of her own. She had been quite weak, after all. It was out of sheer will that enabled her to finish the lullaby.

After waiting for a while, making sure that both of the Sawada was already in too deep of a sleep, Ito moved. He carefully walked around, silently, carefully as to not make any sound. He reached to the side of the futon where the younger Sawada was sleeping, carefully setting aside the hand that loosely bind him in an embrace. Diligently, he carried the young Sawada to the wheelchair that was still in the room and cast the blankets by the sleeping boy's lap and torso. He soon wheeled the boy back to the room he had been staying in and laid him by the futon before leaving the brunet child to sleep.

* * *

Tsuna found himself waking up to the familiar feeling of numbness, the feeling of touching nothing, also to the sight of the vast crystal blueness surrounding his vision.

"…_You shouldn't be here,"_ he heard the familiar voice said. Tsuna, however, felt too peaceful to be able to make out a retort. He felt so… calm, so at peace. He didn't know why, but it felt as if he didn't care too much about the voice right now.

"Who… are you?" he asked the question that he had been asking almost every time since he knew the existence of the voice, but this time it was without much vigor. He felt too at peace to berate the voice right now, too much at peace.

Silence was stretched for what almost seemed to be forever, and Tsuna almost sure the other wouldn't answer. But then, the voice reverberated again, echoing through the vast blue surroundings.

"…_I'm nothing but a mere consciousness,"_ it said finally. _"My existence… is a paradox, and should never come to be known. Not even by you."_

Explanations were told, but Tsuna couldn't seem to bring himself to care. This peace was enveloping him, wrapping him inside its tranquility. He only listened, but everything that was said seemed to be… unimportant for him now. Why? This feeling, what is happening? What—?

And that voice, what was it talking about? He shouldn't know its existence? Then why did it felt like he already _knew_ the voice?

As if he had known the voice for his entire life? So familiar… yet also confusing since he couldn't recognize _whose_ it was, when the familiarity was clearly there, no mistake about it, intuition or not.

He would've screamed all those thoughts, if only he didn't feel the serenity drowned his wants and feelings away, rendering him to feel nothing but peace.

"_I'm—,"_ the next couple of the sentences were incoherent to his ears, as he could feel his hearing began to fail on him. Was it because of this tranquility? Or was it something else entirely? He couldn't find out as he drifted back to the sea of darkness again. Before he was enveloped by the void though, he could hear the last words of the voice that were reverberated around him.

"—_don't return here… Tsu—"_

The last words were drowned out by the void; muffling them before they could reach his ears. Heard only as incoherent words to his ears, curiosity finally reached him second before the void enveloped him completely.

'…_What…does that…mean…?'_

And then, there was darkness.

* * *

Ito was about to go to his own room, but then he felt a want to go to the terrace instead. He didn't know the reason of that sudden feeling, but who was he to refuse his own feeling of want?

Going over the halls of his house, he headed for the terrace that faced the moon, a perfect spot to observe the moon, a favorite pastime of both him and—

Ito noticed a shadow by the terrace where he headed, cast by the moonlight of tonight's moon to the broad, thin surface of his traditional paper door. He frowned before he hastened to his destination and slid the door open.

There, bathed under the silver moonlight, was a man who couldn't be older than twenty or so. Ito noticed him as one of the townspeople that brought his young patient, Sawada Tsunayoshi, to his house. His dark gray-colored eyes widened in surprise upon the sound of the sudden banging of the sliding door. It seemed that he wasn't expecting for anyone to found him there. Under the light, his hair shone in the color of dark brown, which seemed to turn black under the shade. Ito racked his brain to find a name to identify the trespasser. His name, what was—ah, right.

"Utakata Kagami-san?" Ito asked with a surprised tone. Meanwhile, the one that was addressed only gulped in nervousness of getting caught, not answering the call of confirmation, though it wasn't needed as Ito was quite sure of the identity of the man. What made him unsure though was the fact that he was by his terrace, skulking like a thief. Not wanting to accuse, Ito showed his curiosity through his next question.

"What are you doing here late at night?"

The man gulped.

* * *

Tsuna woke up to the sound of the chirping birds and slight warmth of sunlight that cast on to his figure through the transparent surface of the window's glass. His good eye squinted against the brightness of the sunlight and he lifted his arm up to shade his hurting eye. The curtain was opened, making him wonder who opened it for him.

His aches seemed to have healed a little bit, as when he tried to sit up, it didn't hurt as much as before. He let the blanket fell to his stomach as he struggled to keep his back straight. He lifted his left hand to cover his eyes from the sunlight. It was after his eye was adjusted to the light, he could see the bright sky outside his window, signing the beginning of another day.

How long it has been, he wondered. It has been around three days since he woke up, since he regained his consciousness. But, the time before that, how long was it? Has it been days, or weeks?

His friends… were they worried about him and his mother?

_Of course they were_, Tsuna thought bitterly. But, he already decided he would think about coming back later, when his mother became healthier.

He never liked making his friends to worry, but this is something he must decide for himself. Going back means becoming a burden, especially in his state. Added to that, who said whoever that tried to kill him wouldn't try again when the fact that he was still alive was known? If that happens, not only his mother would be harmed, but also his friends. And he doubted he could protect them if that ever happened, when he could barely save his mother.

It hurts him, but perhaps it was better than to have them _dying_ because of him.

"Good morning," he heard someone said gently after he heard the sound of the door being opened. He turned to see a man he had never seen before with a tray of food, standing by the door, wearing a _yukata_ colored in brown. Tsuna raised his visible eyebrow in curiosity and confusion upon seeing gray-eyed man standing by his door. Who is he?

The man gulped visibly as his smile faltered a bit. He stiffly walked into the room and set the breakfast by the side of the futon.

"Excuse me," Tsuna started, a little bit hesitant, "I don't mean to be rude, but… who are you?"

The man beamed another smile before answering. "I'm Utakata Kagami. My tenant and myself were the ones who found you and your mother lying by the shore of our sea. It was quite a fright, as it seemed everything turned red!" he exclaimed.

Tsuna's visible eye widened in surprise, before he felt gratefulness filled his heart.

"It was you? Thank you so much for your help!" Tsuna exclaimed in appreciation. His face sparkled in happiness since he finally able to than his and his mother's savior. "If you weren't there, we wouldn't be here by now!"

After hearing the words of gratitude, the man stayed silent as the smile on his face started to look like it was forced as time ticked on. Tsuna then furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, before suddenly the door was opened again, although silently and carefully without sound, to reveal an annoyed Ito.

"Utakata-san…," Ito said silently, almost in reprimanding way. The man broke in cold sweat before he suddenly slammed his head to the floor, in a way that reminded Tsuna of his self-proclaimed right-hand man. The sudden and unexpected gesture surprised Tsuna, so much that all he could do was to widen his eyes and gaped.

"I'M SO SORRY!" the man exclaimed loudly, making the shocked Tsuna to be surprised even more. He just met the man, yet he was apologizing? What—?

"F—For what?" Tsuna squeaked out when the shock passed him. The man slowly raised his head averted his eyes from him. When his eyes landed on Ito, his eyes strayed back to Tsuna and looked at him apologetically.

"Mizusawa-san told me about me about your reaction on the ring. I never thought that it was so important for you! I thought it was a mere ring with unique design, thrown away by someone, nothing more! I swear! If I had known, I wouldn't—," the man blabbed on, and Tsuna caught the word 'ring' which made him even more confused.

"Wait… What do you mean?" Tsuna asked as his eyes showed a mix of hopefulness, but also fear and confusion. This man, this 'Utakata Kagami', knew of his ring?

If it was possible, the look on the man's face looked even more crestfallen. He squeezed his eyes shut before opened them again and let out a deep breath.

"I and a friend of mine… After we got back from taking you to here, h-he showed me a ring and told me he founded it lying by the shore, near where we had founded you. The design was unique and intricate, and it quickly got our attention. I thought someone had thrown it away and my friend found it. I didn't know that it was yours," he explained.

Tsuna was in a mix of relieved and annoyed upon hearing that. Still, he couldn't stop the smile to appear on his face, especially since now he knew the ring was with this man in front of him. But, somehow, he felt something was off.

"Ah, that's alright. You didn't know," Tsuna said forgivingly, since he felt quite bad about the man, and he was truly sorry. Added to that, he couldn't bring himself to be mad at him, even if only because he was an older man and practically saved the life of both him and his mother. "That ring, can you give it back to me?"

The man didn't answer soon, as silence reigned over the room for a few seconds, which made Tsuna felt even more scared of his bad feeling.

"I don't have it anymore."

Tsuna felt as if his brain was turned off.

"I sold it to a foreign peddler, who already left this town; presumably back to his home country. It was a sweet bargain, and I couldn't help but accept it. But, my friend had run away with the money, not too long after the ring was sold. He would be overseas by now, if he really intended to use all of the money. But, before leaving for good, he told me that the ring I had sold was the ring that fell from you when we picked you up and he took it with him. He had lied to me when he said he found it lying by the shore. If I knew he stole it, I wouldn't even think of selling it! I would've given it back to you!"

Tsuna couldn't think anymore. His ring… was sold? And, whoever bought it already left? It was a peddler who bought it, so his ring was bound to be sold again. Added to that, if that person was really a foreign peddler, then wasn't that mean his ring wouldn't even be in Japan anymore?

Does that mean… that his ring was lost forever now? Is there still any chance left for his ring to return to him? Not only the ring, but also…

Nuts… His box animal, his partner, his—

Tsuna felt downcast once again, and his tears threatened to spill out. But, in front of this man, he would be so ashamed if he let his tears out.

"I'm so sorry," the man apologized again, sounding really sorry in Tsuna's ears. He wished he could bring himself to be mad at this man, but he also knew it wasn't the man's fault.

"I-I'll… I'll do anything to make it up to you. If you ever need my help, just tell me and I'll be on it," the man said again, but Tsuna didn't really hear him. He was still in a trance.

Sensing that the boy wouldn't react to anything now, the grey-eyed man excused himself and left, before giving another apologetic look to the young brunet. Ito merely sighed as he already expected the boy to react like that.

Ito took Kagami to the front door and bid him goodbye, and the man promised to come again tomorrow as he was still on a guilt trip. After that, Ito returned to the young brunet's room to see him still on his previous position, seemingly never moving or even breathing. Even the ruffles on his blanket didn't change, not like he noticed. Seeing the boy gotten sad again, he tried to explain.

"He wanted to apologize last night, that Kagami," he said as he sat down by the boy's side, his legs crossed. "He felt so guilty; he wanted to apologize to you as soon as he could. He even came here last night, creeping around like a thief. He was ashamed and tried to avoid me. He tried to look for your room by himself. When I told him you were already resting, he asked if he could stay the night, even if only to be able to apologize in the morning. He was the one who made that breakfast for you. He's a really nice man."

Tsuna seemed to be numb all over, so Ito tried to talk about his mother.

"I had checked your mother earlier this morning," he began, "She seemed to be an early riser, as she already woken up before I did," he said with a smile. It seemed the talk about his mother worked, since the boy's expression changed. He decided to continue.

"She's still weak, and I recommend her to rest some more. But, she seemed to have trouble with staying still, so I had to let her help around, even if it was merely cleaning her own room. She asked me if I could let her use the kitchen, but I wasn't sure if her condition actually allowed her to do any cooking at all," Ito said again. This time, at the end of his sentence, Ito heard the young brunet chuckled.

"That's just her," Tsuna said, "That's just how mom is…"

Ito also smiled, but then his smile faltered as he remembered another problem that needed attention soon.

"And… Sawada-kun," Ito said, "How do you plan to tell her about your condition? Would you like me to tell her or—"

"Please wait until mom is a bit healthier," Tsuna answered quickly, his eyes pleading.

Ito frowned at that. The boy should know that prolonging it won't change anything, and telling his mother about this sooner or later shouldn't change anything. And, from the short time he had spent with the older Sawada, he could see that he was a strong woman. Yet, he complied to the younger Sawada's request, even if it's only to make the young brunet feels better.

"Very well," he answered, accepting the wish of the young Sawada.

"You know, Sawada kun…," Ito said again, "Your survival could be considered a miracle."

Tsuna raised his visible eyebrow, not understanding. "Miracle?"

Ito smiled again before he explained. "As you see, this place is scarce of proper medical equipment, and everything could only be done by traditional way. Considering that this is a small, rundown town, it was to be expected," he said good-naturedly. "I had little faith that I actually could heal you back, especially since you had massive blood loss and injuries. I tried my best, but I'll say that I had almost lost you. Whatever brought you back to the realm of the living had my gratitude," he said again.

Tsuna could only listen without making any comments. True, compared to Namimori Hospital, this place didn't look like it could be called as a hospital, moreover a clinic. He did say that this was his house, but even Tsuna himself knew his wounds were severe and must've needed more than bandages and antiseptics.

"You're a nice boy, as far as I could see. I guess God was by your side," he said with calmness that reminded Tsuna of a pond without ripples, and Ito left, a calm smile hanging on his lips as he passed the sliding door. Before he closed the door, Tsuna heard him talking again.

"But, was it really God, I wonder?" and he left.

Tsuna frowned in confusion. That last words, what did he mean by that?

"Ugh…," he groaned as he ruffled his spiky brown locks in agitation. "I'm really no-good at this 'thinking' thing!" he said, frustrated. He felt like he should understand what the doctor was trying to say, but the more he tried the headache he got only got more intense.

He then remembered the breakfast that the man, Utakata Kagami, had brought and decided to eat as he felt his stomach grumbling, begging to be filled. He ate slowly, savoring the taste of the simple dish. Remembering that Ito had said Utakata Kagami was the one who made the breakfast, he knew he should forgive the man. He was really sorry, and Tsuna never had it in him to hold grudge.

* * *

Utakata Kagami slowly stepped out of Mizusawa's house, walking aimlessly around the street before he found himself staring the great, big, blue ocean below the cliff just by the side of the road. He let out a groan of frustration as he gripped his head and bend down.

"I'm such a stupid man," he muttered out in frustration. The look on that boy's face, he just knew he had made a very big mistake. It was all because of that stupid friend of his! He knew he shouldn't hear everything that he said! What the hell he was thinking about, selling such possession? Now even that guy's whereabouts became unknown. He felt like a really, really bad and evil guy…

"And talking to yourself makes you an even stupider man," a voice said from behind him, a familiar voice that he knew, though not really well. Kagami's eyes twitched with annoyance before he looked back through his shoulder, noticing a young man, much younger than him and a bit older than Sawada-kun standing there, smiling like an imp. He wore what most men wore in this town, including himself, a casual man's _yukata_ and a pair of _geta_. The _yukata_ that the newcomer wore was colored in dark blue. In his hand, there was a big-sized bag made of plastic containing the boy's favorite food in the shape of fluffy, white cylinder, if the way he ate them wasn't enough indication of his likeness.

"Ugh, shut up," Kagami said in annoyance before he turned away and continuing his walk. The boy still stood behind him, letting out an amused laugh before he ran to catch up. His white-colored and gravity-defying hair was swayed by the wind as he ran to the older man's side, the bag still in hand.

"You didn't return home last night. Was it really that hard to apologize? It's almost midday now," the white-haired one asked, but somehow in Kagami's ears, the innocent question seemed to be mocking, especially with that impish smile still plastered on the white-haired urchin. It made his right eyebrow twitched, but still he answered.

"You suggested a really bad timing. That boy was resting last night, especially the time being _so late at night_, which is supposed to be a _common knowledge_," he spat the last part towards the younger man accusingly, while the other man widened his smile and countered.

"Ah, but it was a _suggestion_, which you can accept or not," he said with his smile never leaving his face, which only make the older man even more annoyed, more at his own foolishness and by the fact how easy he was to be manipulated by a teen much younger than him.

"Anyway," Kagami let out a sigh, "I didn't return back because I wanted to apologize as soon as possible. I just apologized this morning, but I don't think he'll forgive me," his tone was heavier by the end of the sentence, making the younger one raised one elegant eyebrow in pity.

His smile never disappeared, though.

"Poor you. Marshmallow?" the white-haired teen asked as he gave out one of the cylinder-shaped and white-colored fluffy snack towards the older man, who just stared at him incredulously. Before Kagami could accept or decline, the food already went into the younger one's mouth and disappeared.

"Just kidding," the young man said, still with that playful smile. Again, Kagami only twitched an eyebrow, this time twice at the younger man's act. Chuckling, the young man took another bite at his snack.

"I really don't understand you," Kagami grumbled as he stepped even further away from the younger boy and hastened his speed, but after a few meters, he slowed down before stopping and looked back to the younger boy, who was walking leisurely not far behind him.

"Hurry it up!" Kagami called out, "I haven't eaten anything since last night. I'm hungry," he said again. Slanted violet eyes opened in response, before closing again and the playful smile returned. When the younger boy was by his side then he continued their stride along the street.

"I really hope that those marshmallows aren't the only thing you ate. Did you make dinner last night? I'm pretty sure I left you some leftover curry. There should be plenty to last for today's lunch," Kagami asked.

"Ah, those? I threw them away after our late lunch yesterday. I refuse to eat cold foods. I rather eat more marshmallows," the young teen answered in a carefree way, and his smile seemed to become wider than before.

"What!" Kagami yelled out, "Ugh—you threw them away? Then what did you eat last night?" Kagami asked exasperatedly. The younger's eyes then fluttered opened, revealing their vibrant violet color, and his wide smile reduced as his eyebrows rose in wonder.

"Aaa, I think it was a bowl of marshmallows," he answered. Hearing the nonchalant response, all Kagami could do was to speculate whether this white-haired teen in front of him is a marshmallow-eating machine or a human with big appetite for marshmallow.

"Breakfast?" Kagami asked, and the next answer made him decide the answer of his speculation.

"This, I guess?" the young teen answered as he lifted the plastic bag in his hands. Yes, a marshmallow eating machine.

Letting out a heavy breath, Kagami shook his head in vexation as he changed course to a market instead.

"Seriously, Byakuran. You need more nutrients," Kagami scolded lightly before he noticed a _ramen _stand just by the side of the road. "We'll eat there for now. But then we have to go to a market sometime before afternoon. Then, you have to help me cook and—Oi! Are you listening?"

Looking back towards Kagami who he had passed by in his haste towards the stand, he let another impish smile grace his lips as his violet eyes looking with amusement at the older man.

"I hear you, Kaga-chan."

**

* * *

~|To Be Continued|~

* * *

**

**Words That You Might Not Know:**

_Il Canto di Unsignuolo : _The Song of a Nightingale_  
_

_Yukata : _I don't really know how to describe this one, so I hope you don't mind google-ing, if you really don't know what a yukata is.

_Geta : _wooden sandals worn by men and women with _yukata_. One unique style is worn solely by _geisha_.

_Ramen : _a Japanese Noodle dish.

**Sapphire09 : **I'm baaack~ Do you guys miss me (or perhaps, at least, the story?), my dearest readers ? Lol~!

Anyway, Byakuran appeared! Weeee~! (I hope I won't destroy his character too much like I did Tsuna...)

And, another appearance of a new OC, one Utakata Kagami... I really hope you don't mind it much... I tried, seriously, to keep the OC count down to a minimum. I need them to make the characters appear one by one. I mean, Tsuna is in a place where none of his friends were there. New characters are just logical to appear. I could make Longchamp appear, though, if you want him. Still, _maybe_ in TARGET II.

Just a warning, in hope you understand my reason, TARGET II will have even more OC in it, but they won't be anything more than, I don't know, passerby, I guess? One thing for sure, Tsuna will never ever replace the friends he has before, and no one can remove them from their spot in Tsuna's heart. That one you can count on. So, even though Tsuna going to meet some, or maybe many OCs and befriend them, their... bond won't be as deep and as close as Tsuna with his Guardians, as I'm planning them to never knew about mafia at all (unless you think otherwise. Still, it's a long way to go, so this can change. Just thought you should know...)

I hope you don't mad at me for making an OC having connection with Byakuran. And, to make things clearer, Byakuran don't have that purple tattoo under his left eye in here, since I don't see him having one at the end of Episode 203. Doesn't mean the tattoo will be gone forever though, as it is Byakuran's distinguishing characteristic. For other things, well, I guess it'll be told in the next Code, Code 4.

Now you know what happened to Tsuna's ring. A bit stupid, if I think it again. A peddler? I mean, what's a foreign peddler doing in a rundown town? Well, can't change it now. Let's just see what will happen, shall we?

And also, the friend Utakata Kagami mentioned in this chapter, who tricked him into thinking that the ring was owner-less wasn't Byakuran. It was another random person which I don't bother to find a name for, who won't ever appear in this story, ever. Let's say he got his karma and died somewhere, shall we? Hohohoho.

Oh! Right. The song Nana sang was titled _Tsunaida Te ni Kisu wo_, by Sanae Kobayashi. I guess it was nice and calming, and Tsuna really need something to calm him, ne?

By the way, I forgot to mention this in earlier chapters, but my knowledge in Italian is next to almost none. I used Google Translator for the title of the Codes. For you who might be displeased by that, I am sorry. But, I only used Italian for TARGET I's Code titles though. TARGET II will be different... Japanese maybe? Saa...

**Answer to Your Reviews :  
**

**Reidluver : **Thank you! Yes, I'm also happy too. The ring? Well, now you know! It's still vague, but it's not like it was hopeless, right? haha...** Mel-chama : **Here's an update! Of course! Having two rings will make everything more harder!** TsunaxGuardians4ever : **Thank you! Err, I doub't it'll bu like the one in FMA. The village is a rundown and so their technology just won't be able to make a leg like that. I have my plans, though.** Yuki949 : **Shibaku atama? very well then, I'll change it soon :)** katsuki : **Thank you :) I'm glad you didn't mind. Here's an update :D** VongolaPrimo27 : **Of course! I'm not such a cruel author not letting Tsuna have a bit of good things happening... Well, I guess everything that I made Tsuna to go through was cruel, wasn't it?** doremishine itsuko : **Now, you know what happens to the ring :) No, I don't think I said that. You must know I'm a sucker for romance and I doubt I can make anything of that genre even to save my life... Well, I think I can if I tried-but anyway, that's beside the point. And, thank you! Here's the next one!** VAY-hale : **I don't drop the story, and this chapter is my proof! Thank you for waiting!** xXChu-ChanXx : **Thank you! Here's another chapter!** phppsmss : **Thank you! Here's an update!** Hitokiri-san : **Really? Thank you! A new boss, hmmm... You'll just have to wait and see :)** Polar Pig : **Well, there it is about the ring. Abou whether Tsuna can retrieve it or not... well, let's just see, shall we? It's not Byakuran, as he appeared in body and soul in this chapter, and I soubt he had Mukuro's ability to invade minds. But, if it makes you feel better, shall I tell you something? Byakuran had been one of the choice of character that I thought probable as the role of the voice before I decided to use him in another role :) **Elf Spirit7 : **Here's a chapter :)

Anyway, despite the fact I finally could post an update, my school is still evil as always... My days are still busy, but I hope I didn't let you down with this chapter.

Oh, your reviews will make this authoress happy (like usual. Haha)! Please, once again, remember that every critic improves this story and every reviews drives me to write faster!


	5. Code 04: Una Lucciola di Luce

**Sapphire09:** A new chapter! Please, enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER:** No, still don't own it. All I own are the OCs in this story

**WARNINGS: **GRAMMAR, OOCness, and I think that was all.

**[EDITED in _June 26th, 2011_]**

* * *

**~|Due Cieli|~**  
___(Two Skies)  
by Sapphire09_

* * *

"_How can you move forward if you kept regretting the past?"_

_Edward Elric (**Fullmetal Alchemist)**  
_

* * *

**TARGET I  
**_The Darkest Sky of Night_

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**Code ****04**_ –____** Una Lucciola di Luce  
**_

* * *

When Tsuna finished his breakfast, Fuyu came in with neatly folded garments at hand. Tsuna recognized them as the clothes that he wore before, when the plane crashed and he ended up here.

"I-I've ironed t-them…" Fuyu said meekly as she set the clothes by the side of the futon. Tsuna then noticed his gloves-his wool mittens-also folded on top of the clothes. Upon seeing those, Tsuna felt his heart gone lighter and he felt lite jumping in joy. Before Tsuna could ask how they got there, Fuyu already took off with his empty dish that once contained his breakfast. Just after Fuyu passed the door, her father came in for the second time that day.

"She seemed to be quite energetic this morning," Ito commented lightly as he stared at the disappearing back of his daughter. He then turned his attention to the current resident of the room.

"She seemed to be in a hurry," Tsuna said, a hint of curiosity laced his tone. Ito let out a short chuckle as he closed the door behind him and went deeper into the room, before he took a spot by the corner of the room and let his back slide against the wooden wall as he sat down cross-legged with his back leaned against the wall.

"Of course," Ito said, "Your mother had been nice to her, and Fuyu wanted to keep her accompanied for as long as she could," Ito said with a smile, "Of course I said so, but I guess it was Fuyu who wished for your mother's company." Tsuna raised his eyebrows at that, questioning the meaning behind those words.

It wasn't like he wasn't grateful for Fuyu to be actually willing to keep her company. In fact, Tsuna was very grateful, because it means his mother won't be lonely and will have a friend to talk to. But…

"Why?" he asked curiously. Ito's smile seemed to falter into a sad smile, and Tsuna suddenly felt like it was a question he shouldn't have asked. He was about to apologize, but Ito suddenly talked, stopping whatever words Tsuna was about to say in his throat.

"That child…" Ito began, "…never knew what a mother's love is."

Tsuna widened his eyes in surprise and gasped. _That's right_, he thought. He never saw the woman of the house, now that he thought it over. He never guessed that it was because—

"But by no means that she is dead," Ito explained in a hurry. He seemed to notice the dark look on Tsuna's face. Tsuna calmed down then, but then it raised another question in his head.

"Then, how come—"

"She left, when Fuyu was only five years old," Ito answered even before Tsuna could finish his question. His eyes were downcast, before they turned to Tsuna, or the general direction of Tsuna.

"It was a winter night. I and she had an argument. She didn't agree on what I thought was best, and then she left, leaving little Fuyu under my care," he said. He then let out a sigh, but somehow Tsuna felt it wasn't a sad sigh.

"I don't wish for any other way, and I'm glad I was the one that took care of her. But, as a father I can only do so much," he said again. "She needs a mother, but I don't wish to remarry. I…" he trailed off, and Tsuna guessed he was trying to find the right word, the right expression. When Ito couldn't find any word to use, he let out another sigh.

"Anyway, I'm really thankful of your mother, Sawada-kun, for being able to show Fuyu, even if it was a mere glimpse, of a mother's love," Ito said, his smile came back again. "I really do…" he added, more silent this time. Silence then filled the room, and no one seemed to be able to destroy it. Ito just stared at nothing, facing slightly to his right side. He seemed to think about something, and that left Tsuna to do his own thinking.

Tsuna knew that his mother was just like that, too caring for even a stranger, as showed in her abnormal acceptance and kindness over stranger who came to their house. But, that was her charm, something that made her… her.

"Sawada-kun," Ito called suddenly, making Tsuna to turn his attention to the older man. He noticed the sad look on the older man's eyes, and the small frown that was on his lips. "Your mother isn't as weak as you thought."

The sentence came out so suddenly, it surprised Tsuna. After a while Tsuna realized that Ito was talking about his decision to refrain from telling his mother about his condition. But, the thought of telling nothing to his mother passed his mind. He could bear it, so he thought there was no need to make his mother sad. Right?

But then, he knew his mother will know, whether it was from him or from Ito, of herself. The change was not something that could be hidden away easily. The lack of a leg… Anyone would notice it. No matter how naïve his mother was, there was no way she would overlook it.

"What exactly are you waiting for?" Ito asked softly. "Sooner is better than later, while she is still stable. You know you need to get it off your chest too. So, what are you waiting for? For your mother to be ready?"

It took Tsuna a while to answer, and the answer itself wasn't something that could convince Ito, or himself.

"Yes. I…" Tsuna said hesitantly. But he didn't even know what his mother must be ready for. The news?

No, It was him that wasn't ready. He was afraid on how his mother would handle it.

It was him that wasn't ready to see his mother's reaction. His cowardly and unsure self made him think of the bad reactions only. That side of him thought only of those things. _'Would her condition worsened at the shocking news? Would she be ashamed? Or perhaps even see him as a more useless son? Will she be sad and turn her head away, not wanting to face it?'_

"No matter what, you should tell her," Ito said again. "You can't prolong it for long. Even if you try, she would just come here. Unlike you, she could walk around the house perfectly fine. She even said that she wanted to see you earlier, when I was in her room. Who knows when she decided that she should take care of her son and came here to see that said son no longer had a leg, and was told nothing by said son?"

This was the first time Tsuna heard Ito used such a harsh tone, almost bordering to desperate. He knew that was true, though. Too true.

Gripping the blanket tightly, Tsuna finally made his decision. It was better to let his mother knew earlier and be ashamed of him, rather than hide it and let her to find it out herself and made her to feel like she was lied to. Yeah, it was better that way.

...Right?

* * *

Fuyu just smiled brightly as Sawada Nana chatted animatedly about random things. First, Nana talked about a child, younger than herself, named Lambo, an infant boy with dark, heavily curled hair who loved grape-flavored candies, then to another child named I-Pin, an infant girl with Chinese hairstyle who had a Chinese accent every time she spoke, and Fuuta, a boy with light brown hair who supposedly at the same age as her. Nana also talked about her home in Namimori, her husband Sawada Iemitsu who was often away, but still lovey-dovey like a newlywed with her, and her son.

Nana told her about how her son was often no-good, but even when she said that, there was still a kind of affection in there, a sense of caring. Then, she told her about her son's friends, and how close they were. Fuyu just smiled, imagining the liveliness of the Sawada house from the stories Nana had told her. It was fun to imagine, and it was hard to keep her smile from getting wider. She even let out a giggle when Nana told her more about Lambo.

"…I wonder when we will be able to return to Namimori. Lambo, and everyone must be very worried. I wonder if they had eaten," Nana said longingly. Fuyu felt slight pain at the thought of Nana leaving. But, she knew it was unavoidable. So, she only smiled.

"I-I'm sure i-it will be soon," Fuyu stuttered. Nana, however, noticed the sad look on the young girl's face. So, she did what she usually did to those with sad faces. She smiled soothingly at her and patted her head lovingly.

"But, I guess they should be fine. Bianchi is a great cook, after all," Nana said with that smile. Fuyu's face then reddened in embarrassment, before she willed herself to ask, to hear more of her stories.

"W-Who's Bianchi?"

Nana then continued her story.

* * *

Tsuna was already by the door that led to his mother's room and he was about to slide it open before he noticed that his mother has been telling Fuyu stories about their life in Namimori. Ito, who was pushing the wheelchair behind him, stared at his patient in wonder when he didn't open the door. He then listened to the stories too.

"You seemed to have a great life," Ito commented when Nana was talking about her son and his friends. Tsuna smiled in response, but it wasn't a bright smile. As he heard his mother spoke of their life before the… accident, he couldn't hold down the stream of memories that appeared inside his mind.

What his mother has been talking about were all from her own, innocent, mafia-free view. Mostly only the daily life they had and the things that they used to do before. Despite the regular activities, everything had been… fun. And, despite Tsuna knowing the craziness and the dangers that ensued behind every activity, he couldn't deny that, now he thought of it again, it had been great times.

"Yeah, it was great," he answered weakly. Ito then bowed down to meet the younger brunet's eye.

"Are you lonely?" he asked. Tsuna turned his visible eye away from the man, before he closed it and nodded.

"A bit, I guess," he answered again, with a tone that indicated his reluctance.

"…_I wonder when we will be able to return to Namimori"_ Tsuna heard his mother said, and then he felt something heavy was crushing his heart. He felt like crying again, but he held it down.

"Your mother wished to return," Ito said again as he straightened up. He then stared down to the young brunet, as if sizing him up. The longing, yet conflicted, look on the younger brunet's visible eye didn't escape his vision.

"But I think you're the one who wished it the most."

Tsuna kept his visible eye turned away, dare not to meet the older man's. His hand gripped the blue shirt that he wore; the clothes Fuyu had ironed, creating fresh wrinkles on the spot where he gripped it. Despite the silent response, Ito knew anyway that he was right.

"You should tell her soon. The sooner you do that, perhaps the sooner you could return. Maybe, in Namimori, they could find a better way to make you walk again," Ito said as he returned to Tsuna's backside and gripped the wheelchair again.

Tsuna wished to return, Ito was right on that. But, it was only a part of him that wished for it. Another part of him, his cowardly self, wished for otherwise. He feared—

Tsuna could hear his mother told storied about Bianchi right now. While talking about Bianchi, somehow the subject now became Reborn, then his friends again. As he heard about his mother's stories, he could feel his courage was being drained. It was then he decided he must do it soon, before his courage falter.

So, he opened the door in one push.

* * *

"There was this time when—," Nana was stopped short when the door was suddenly opened, revealing his son on a wheelchair and Ito holding said wheelchair, pushing it closer to her so she could see clearly. She then greeted him with a 'good morning', despite it being midday already.

"Ah, Tsu-kun! _Oha…yo…u…_" she trailed of as she took in her son's appearance. Sitting there, on a wheelchair, was her son. His right eye was wrapped in bandages to his head. He was wearing a blue shirt with short sleeves, and Nana noticed some wrappings underneath the clothing, also by his arms. She also didn't miss the blanket laid on his lap, hiding his legs from view. But, somehow, Nana felt something was amiss in her view, that something was wrong.

Tsuna tried to reply her trailed greeting with a smile. "_Ohayou, Kaa-san. _How are you?" he said. But then, his smile faltered when he saw Nana slowly stood up and walked to him, step by step. As she came closer to him, he could feel his heart beat faster by every step she took.

Nana couldn't comprehend the feeling she was having. This wasn't the first time his son got wounded, so then why there was this unease that seemed to haunt her heart when she saw her son appeared by that door, when she took notice of his bandaged condition. She couldn't find the reason of her unease, so she tried to smile.

"I'm fine, Tsu-kun, _demo…_what happened to your eye?" she asked instead as she reached to said eye. Her fingers touched the bandaged eye, rubbing the tip of her fingers against the bandage lightly.

"Don't worry. Ito said it wasn't irreparable," the rest was left unsaid by Tsuna, and it wasn't a lie too. Ito had said so. He didn't feel that telling her the rest would be a good idea. She didn't need to know that his sight won't be back, at least not now.

Nana let out a relieved sigh. "_Sou ka? Yokatta…,"_ she said as she pulled back and smiled, but then still her unease didn't leave her. _Why_, she wondered to herself. Was it because of the bandages? But, she had seen her son wrapped in heavier amount of bandage than this before. Was it the wheelchair? But—

"Tsu…kun…?" Nana trailed off. Her hand fell down to her side as she finally noticed the reason of why he felt such uneasiness. The awkward angle of the blanket and how she only saw Tsuna's right foot at the end of the blanket's edge sent alarms ringing in her mind. But still she tried to think of it in a positive way, as showed by her smile, or at least her attempt at making one.

"Nothing was wrong… with your leg, right…?" she asked slowly, almost like begging. Tsuna could only look away as he could feel his courage failed him. He wanted go and tell her nothing was wrong, but… lying had never been his forte, especially lying to his mother. That one thing he could not do.

Receiving no answer, Nana then chided him, like how a mother should every time her son didn't seem to hear her. "Tsu-kun, answer me," she said strictly. Even so, she could feel something was stuck inside her throat. Something was wrong, she was sure.

Tsuna flinched at the harsh tone, but he didn't—no, couldn't answer. How could say anything when it seemed like his throat also failed him and no matter how hard he gulped, the uncomfortable feeling in his throat didn't seem to go away?

Anxiousness and her bad feeling led Nana to take action and she lifted the blanket that hideaway Tsuna's legs from view.

Her reaction, Ito noted, wasn't unlike that of her son's.

She was stunned at first, before she shook in disbelief and cried in loss and grief, as if it was her own that was lost. She hugged her son as if he was her lifeline, and instead of consoling, it was Tsuna who consoled his mother, whispering words of sweet nothings to her ears, soothing her worries and sadness. It reminded Ito of the previous night, when it was the mother who consoled her son with her soothing lullaby.

"Why…?" Tsuna heard his mother said in between her tears. Her voice shook and spoke as nothing but a whisper, making her word almost inaudible to be heard. But, he heard it, loud and clear in his ears.

"Why my son…?"

Tsuna's grip on her back tightened as soon as those words left her lips. He knew why, but his mother didn't. It was a secret he could never tell her, ever.

His mother was too precious for that, too innocent.

"It's not fair…" she sobbed again, and Tsuna's heart clenched tightly.

No more words were said after that, as only the sobs and muffled cries filled the room. One said nothing more because of the grief and shock, while the other was because of his secret, a secret that brought both of them into this situation in the first place.

But, even so, Tsuna didn't regret. Even if it ended like this, he never regretted it.

He couldn't, and shouldn't, regret it, because that same secret also had brought him the happiest moments in his life.

* * *

Deep inside Tsuna's consciousness, a voice spoke. It reverberated through the crystal-like surrounding, echoing inside the vast blue scope, despite how vast the space seemed to be. Echoing, hollowing.

_"I'm just a consciousness, I know only that,"_ the voice said, more to itself rather than to anyone else. A spectral figure appeared in the midst of blue, as translucent, transparent, and ephemeral as it was.

_"But, whose am I? Yours? Mine?"_

A hand, spectral as it was, was reaching out to a seemingly random direction. But, at the spot where he reached, a crack was visible, running through the invisible walls, spreading out in thin lines like the spider's web. It was unnoticeable, almost harmless and seemed to be nothing more than a play of light, despite the size that seemed to spread to more than half of the space—or had it spread through the whole space?

_"…It's spreading… Breaking, ever so slowly…_

_Please, please don't return here… Don't—_

_But, I guess when you do… We will know the answer…"_

And the figure slowly dispersed, disappeared like a dimmed light and blended into the surroundings.

* * *

The sun was almost setting when Tsuna finally regained his track of time. The rays of the reddish light that had spread throughout the sky also draped the room in its reddish tint. He had been in his mother's room, listening to her pleas and sadness. He found himself sitting on the floor by his mother's futon, with the wheelchair by his reach just behind him. He had been by her side until she had fallen asleep, it seemed.

After many attempts and a few falls, he managed to get back to the wheelchair behind him. It seemed that both Ito and Fuyu had decided to let him and his mother talk alone in the midst of all. After he sat back on the wheelchair, he began to wheel himself out from the room, trying to be silent in his attempt as best as he could.

He soon managed to get into the hallway that connected his and his mother's room and all he needed to was to close the door behind him. Right after he managed to close the door, he could hear a soft melody being played from somewhere inside the house. The melody was something he had heard before, though he couldn't really remember where or when exactly he had heard it. But, it was familiar.

Curiosity led him to follow the melody to the source. He wheeled himself off the opposite direction of his room, towards where he thought the melody originated from. Such beautiful sound… He wondered who could make such sound.

Soon he found himself at the end of the hallway, staring at a door of the room which the melody seemed to come from. It seemed like trespassing for Tsuna, but he was really curious at knowing who could produce such melody. When he peeked in and saw the player, then he remembered when he had heard such sound.

It was when he woke up after he had known his condition he heard the melody, the same calming melody. However, at that time, he remembered not being able to hear it clearly, yet he had registered that it was a beautiful sound. Ito had played it too back then, the sound of violin was comforting and reassuring, just like now.

Tsuna was too caught up in the melody that he didn't realize that his wheelchair made a sound against the wooden floor, making Ito to stop the flow of the melody he had played and turned to Tsuna in surprise. A pair of thick eyebrows raised and Tsuna was staring wide-eyed, still in a trance.

"Eh, Sawada-kun? Is there something wrong?" Ito asked, bringing Tsuna out from his reverie.

"That was really beautiful!" Tsuna blurted out suddenly, his eyes sparkled in awe. It had been his first time listening to a live violin play, and truly listened to it. In the past, he never got any chance to listen to any kind of classical music except in school, every time he had a music class. But, usually it was only singing in choir or playing a recorder or flute, or sometimes piano, but never violin. That really was his first time, not counting the time when Ito played when he just woke up that time, that he heard a violin being played so beautifully.

Ito was startled at first, before he smiled that gentle smile again. "Ha ha, really?" he said, laughing lightly.

"Yeah! It was really beautiful and calming somehow," Tsuna exclaimed again, "What was it called?" he asked with honest curiosity.

"_Amazing Grace_," Ito said with a sad smile that didn't escape Tsuna's view. "I used to play this song for my wife. Arisa… She loved this piece."

Somehow, Tsuna felt that Ito was caught in a memory of his past, a painful one, which made Tsuna felt guilty for some reasons.

"U-Uh! S-Sorry! D-Did I disturb you?" Tsuna stuttered his apologize after a while, half bowing in position on the wheelchair.

"Ah, no… It's alright," Ito said reassuringly as he put the violin into the case behind where he was standing, which was laid on top of a table that seemed to be a work desk or something along those lines.

"Anyway, how was your mother, Sawada-kun?" Ito asked suddenly without turning back to him, as he was still working on putting the violin back into its case. Tsuna was caught by surprise, so it took him a few seconds to answer.

"She… is sleeping now. I guess it really shocked her…," he answered. "Her condition… won't worsen, right?" Tsuna asked back, hopeful and wary. Ito turned his head to Tsuna's general direction, before turning back to the case in front of him and snapped the lock.

"That depends," he answered as he lifted the case which now contained the violin. "But, if you wish for my honest opinion, I will say that the outcome will be much better than if you waited longer," he said as he turned fully to Tsuna, the violin case in hand. The way Ito said it was firm and full of confidence, so Tsuna couldn't help but to trust him. He gave Ito a small smile then as a response.

It was silent then, before Tsuna remembered the melody that Ito had played earlier, and suddenly an idea popped into his mind. Perhaps… Perhaps, he could help his mother to get through this, just like how she helped him before! Perhaps… Perhaps—!

"M-Mizusawa-san," Tsuna called out, with an idea in mind. He didn't know if it would work, and he wasn't sure he could pull it off. But, he'll try and to actually realize that, he needed the older man to help him.

"Can you teach me to play that music, _Amazing Grace_?"

* * *

The darkening sky didn't seem to bother him at all, as he still walked along the familiar street heading to the Mizusawa's household. Long legs strode forward in firm steps, and a white plastic bag was held in one hand.

The moon was noticed in the back of his mind, even though the sun didn't exactly disappear from the horizon. With the sunlight defeating the moonlight, the moon didn't seem to shine like it used to be.

The white tuft he called hair was tinted in the sun's reddish hue as he strode along the road. A wicked smile adorned his lips, seemingly to never disappear. He stopped when he finally reached his destination; a traditional Japanese house with the Mizusawa's name plate on the front. His violet-colored eyes ran through the name plate once before he walked closer to the wooden gate.

He knocked the front gate.

* * *

"Huh?" was all that Ito let out from his parted lips. He was surprised at the young boy's request. It was quite sudden, and a little bit out of the blue.

"I…" Tsuna began, "I wanted to play it for _Okaa-san_."

Ito raised his eyebrows at that. _It was really thoughtful of him_, Ito thought. But…

"Have you played violin, or maybe other instrument before?" Ito asked curiously. Tsuna dropped his head then, and Ito could already guess the answer from his gesture.

"No… I never played anything before. There was one time when I had to play recorder, but I couldn't. Is it impossible for me then?" Tsuna asked, almost sadly. Ito didn't answer right away and scratched the back of his head.

"I won't say impossible… but it won't be easy either," Ito said. Tsuna then looked up to him, hopeful. Seeing such hopeful and expectant look, Ito couldn't bring himself to refuse.

"Oh well, why not? Sure, I'll teach you. But, keep in mind that I'm a strict teacher," Ito answered with a big grin. Tsuna's look brightened then and he couldn't feel even more grateful to the man.

About being strict, Tsuna didn't mind it at all. Besides, he couldn't be stricter than Reborn, right?

"Thank you so much, Mizusawa-san," Tsuna said, full of gratitude. Ito replied with his own smile as his eyes formed a pair of upside down u. Before he could say anything along the lines of 'you're welcome' and such, Fuyu suddenly appeared from the side of the door, calling for Ito. Tsuna then turned his head back to see her shyly peeked in.

"_A-Ano… Chichi,_ you h-have guest," she said. From behind her, Tsuna could hear the sound of the footsteps slowly closing in. He wondered if he would intrude, so he was about to excuse himself. He was about to turn back to face Ito, but then he was stopped when he noticed the guest already standing by the door, right beside the half-hidden Fuyu. He suddenly became silent as his mind tried to process the presence that was right now behind him, considering his position that was backing the door. He turned his head back towards the door to see the guest more clearly as his face showed an expression of surprise mixed with horror.

That tuft of white hair, those slanted and violet colored eyes. That _smile_… So familiar, so—

"Hi, Byakuran," Ito greeted with that friendly smile. The white haired man—no, teen, as he seemed to be years younger than he remembered him to be—replied with that smile, a smile that didn't look any more comforting than the one Tsuna saw in the Future. No, not at all.

When those violet eyes suddenly fell on him, Tsuna shuddered.

* * *

******~|To Be Continued|~**

* * *

**Words That You Might Not Know :**

_Una Lucciola di Luce : _A Firefly's Light

_Ohayou :_ Good Morning_  
_

_okaa/kaa-san : _Mother

_Demo : _But_  
_

_"Sou desu ka? Yokatta" : _More or less like "Is that so? Thank goodness"_  
_

**Sapphire09:** Hi there my lovely readers! I'm back!

Well, now that Tsuna got his mittens back, he won't be too vulnerable now, right? As for why he still had his mittens, in case you wished to know, let's just say Kagami's backstabbing friend thought that wool mittens wasn't going to worth a fortune, unlike the ring. Ito was wondering about why he had mittens on him (the time line is around summer, after all), but shrugged it off and gave it to Fuyu for washing. Well, I guess that's all about Tsuna's gloves.

Now is about Ito's past. I hope I didn't make it too much of importance. I just wanted to add them into the story, since both Ito and Fuyu will be a factor for Tsuna's change.

About Tsuna's troublesome thoughts, I'm pretty sure I already explained it somewhere in earlier chapters, but I'll just say it again. A part of him that missed and loved his friends dearly wished to see them again, and to do that he must return to Namimori (or for them to find him, whichever works).But, another cowardly part of him wished that he would never see them again, fearing on the thought they'll have on him. Tsuna wasn't someone with plenty of friends he can trust before, so he didn't know what to expect from his friend when they saw his condition, which I may remind he was already self-conscious about it. The look that Ito gave him that one time somewhere in earlier chapter wasn't something that made Tsuna happy, as he even loathe the look, somehow, so he was afraid his friends would give him that look instead, and it'll be a torture for Tsuna if that happens. Added to that, right now he doesn't have Reborn to drill the right thought to him, to give him a lecture and to give him direction. He must think of it on his own.

Amazing Grace... It was a bit random, but I wanted Tsuna to do something for his mother, to ease her from his worries. Unlike Ito, the look she gave him was one that he could accept. It wasn't pity, nor sorry. It was a deep, profound sorrow and sadness, as if it wasn't him that lost a leg, but it was her. Surely Tsuna will feel guilty, but he didn't dislike it.

At first, it was hard for me to choose from either flute, recorder, piano, or violin. But, flute was too Asari-ish, and piano was too Gokudera-ish, which left me to choose from either recorder or violin. Since I wanted it to be a bit grand, I picked violin. Besides, I just love the way a violin sounded, despite the fact I couldn't play it at all... Wished to, though...

Can anyone tell me how long does it takes for someone to learn how to play a violin? It'll decide the next time line, and I really wanted to make it as realistic as possible. even an opinion would be fine... Please?

Singing crossed my mind, but then I don't know what he should sing. Tsuna's character song, at least the one that I knew of, didn't really fit the feeling, while I don't know what other song that he could sing.

About Byakuran, I think I've said that I'll explain more about him in this chapter. I'm sorry that I didn't. This chapter dragged on even longer than I thought, so maybe I'll explain about him later in the next chapter. I didn't actually finish deciding whether he should be good or bad in here, but I'm personally leaning towards good or just neutral. You may give your opinion on this, though.

Don't worry, your patience will be rewarded.

**Answer To Your Reviews:**

**katsuki: **Soon, soon (I hope). Well, here's an update!** sky90: **Thank you! Well, here is a new chapter! Whether he'll turn out to be good or bad, I'm planning to disclose it in the next chapter.** p00chie: **Thank you! I love you too for reading and liking this story :) Well, I can't say it didn't cross my mind. I'll see what I can do :)** elfspirit7: **Thank you! Well, here's a chapter!** aerie-art: **Thank you so much! Do you know much it means to me? Sorry for the depressing part, though. I couldn't help it. I was too into tragedies when I made the first chapter *sweatdrop*. Well, here's an update :D** ReaperofDarkness: **Thank you! Oh yeah, Reborn probably had to think that, huh? Well, training Tsuna in his current state won't be easy, that's fur sure... Maybe it'll be an even more hellish training? Oh yeah... Tsuna really is hated...** chariot330: **an update! (ditengah kesibukan dan keresahan dalam persiapan UAN dan masuk universitas, bisa-bisanya ya aku berani nge-update cerita? Edan, edan... mana nilaiku jatuh lagi... huks... T.T Hibur aku naah... lol)** orangesky3: **Glad you think this as a good story :) Feeling good now? Well, here's a new chapter!** LilyMoonstone: **Byakuran's intention and whether he'll be bad or good will be known in the next chapter. One thing for sure, he is not a mere passer-by. I hope you'll be patient for a little while :) As for the other question, well, I can only hope I won't disappoint you.** LonelyDayzDreamer: **Thank you so much! Don't worry about it. The fact that you reviewed is enough :) But, since you already promised so, I'll be looking forward for your reviews! He he he :) Don't worry, all of it will unravel in due time :D Again, thank you! I hope I didn't disappoint you in this chapter :)**  
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For those who reviewed this story, you all really made my day. Your reviews were the major reason why I kept writing this story despite my busy and stressful days. I hope you'll keep reviewing in the future chapters!

This might be going to by my last update for a while, since National exam and University Exams are coming soon, also with try outs and cram schools. I'll try to continue in my free time, and I can promise you that I have no intention of dropping this story. Still, I honestly don't know when I can update again. Hell, it might even be in another few months or so. So please, I hope you can be patient and not dropping this story from your reading list.

Please remember that every critic will improve this story and every reviews will drive me to work harder!

**[EDIT]** : Nothing much of importance, just changing the clue for the 'presence'. LOL!


	6. Code 05: Awolgente Vuoto

**Sapphire09: **New chapter! Nya~

**DISCLAIMER:** If I owned it, would I be writing fanfics?

**WARNINGS: **Grammar, OOCness, and total fail... ;A;

**[EDITED IN August 10****th****, 2011]**

* * *

**~|Due Cieli|~  
**_(Two Skies)  
by Sapphire09_

* * *

_"Even while you are in doubt, there will be an answer you will arrive to. Even while you are in pain, your happiness will be waiting."_

_**D. Gray-Man**_

* * *

**TARGET I  
**_The Darkest Sky of Night_

* * *

**Code ****05**_ –__** Awolgento Vuoto**_

* * *

Utakata Kagami sat by the porch of his house, looking towards the reddening sky. He welcomed the breeze that swayed his dark brown locks lightly, feeling its delightful coolness in the midst of this summer's afternoon. As he listened to the sound of the sea waves crashing to the shore, he then noticed that the moon had come out, signing that it would be nighttime soon.

Suddenly, he sat up and a frown marred his look as he stared over to the empty road. He wasted no more time in locking the door of his house before he lightly stomped his way to the road in front of his house, turning towards what seemed to be rows of houses, not much different from his own, separated by wide range of empty lots filled with nothing but greens and grasses.

"That guy took too long," he muttered under his breath with a hint of annoyance in his tone as he stepped harshly onto the dirt ground, "If it was because he took his time in the cake shop again, I'll really strangle him this time, that Byakuran."

* * *

Tsuna shuddered under those gaze, the gaze that he had preferred to never see again. His hand already inched to the mittens that he held by his lap, covered by the blanket, before suddenly those gaze seemed much closer than before. It was then he noticed that Byakuran's face was only inches apart from his own.

"HIIIE!"

Without thinking, Tsuna backed away as far as he could, until the back of his wheelchair met the wooden wall. He had pushed the wheelchair with his good leg in his attempt to keep their distance; his hands gripped the sides of his wheelchair instead, away from the mittens on his lap, to keep his balance. Fear, horror, and confusion mixed into an unexplainable emotion, forming a whirlwind of emotion within Tsuna. His hand gripped the iron by the sides of his wheelchair strongly, yet shakily. His knuckles even turned white at the strength of his own grip. He could also feel himself breaking in cold sweat as he bit his lower lip, a futile attempt to ease the chaos inside his heart.

_W-Why is he here?_ Tsuna thought as he made sure to keep the white-haired man—no, teen—within his sight. _Does he remember? What does he want? Is he here to exact his revenge? No! Is he going to hurt—_

Thought by thought passed through his already troubled mind. His panic sent alarms to his whole senses, telling them to be prepared at moment's notice. His whole body tensed and trembled, his skin paled considerably, and he barely noticed his own look that had contorted itself to a look of horror mixed with a glare.

_Didn't I already—_

When suddenly Ito's face entered his line of vision, blocking him from Byakuran's view—_or was it the other way around?_—Tsuna let out a soft gasp and flinched, with the look that he had still plastered on his face.

"Sawada-kun, are you alright?" Ito asked as he crouched down to meet the younger brunet's eye. His concern latched with a hint of curiosity and confusion. Tsuna was unable to answer, as his mind was still filled by wary and caution against the white-haired man—_or was it mostly fear?_ Even as he stared at the concern-filled brown orbs that stared back at him, his thoughts were still running wild. However, his muscles that were tense in anticipation somehow relaxed considerably, but not relaxed enough for him to drop his guard.

"What's wrong with him?" Tsuna flinched when he heard the familiar voice, Byakuran's voice, despite it being lighter than the last time he heard it. Tsuna's left eye darted to see the owner of that voice, which was now visible through Ito's shoulder when the older Mizusawa turned his head towards the snow-haired male. Tsuna, more or less, was still anticipating, still _wary—fearing_. Tsuna could see that the white-haired teen had a look of confusion and wonder, but Tsuna somehow knew that wasn't what he truly felt at the time, a fake expression. That expression only added more oil to his already flaring emotion.

_Was there a twinge of guilt as well?_

"I don't know… Byakuran-kun, you didn't do anything to him, did you?" Ito asked curiously. Somehow, Tsuna managed to get a hint of a playful accusing tone in the question, making Tsuna to snap out of his own train of thought as he could somehow feel a sense of familiarity within Ito's tone towards that _devil—or is that a ghost? An illusion created and crafted by Tsuna's own thoughts?_

"Oww… You accused me? I'm hurt. I just got here," Byakuran replied as he lifted his right palm to his chest in mock-hurt, as the expression he had told otherwise. He had an amused look, if the smile he had were any indication.

It brought Tsuna more to his guard, despite the fact that his hands still gripped his wheelchair tightly, but no longer shaking. _Had he tricked Mizusawa-san? Has he been using him? Is he trying to get me through him? Did he—_

_Is he really alive?_

"Sawada-kun, why do you seem so scared?" he heard Ito asked him gently, pure concern was all that Tsuna could feel in every flow of the older man's words. Even he himself could feel his own tears threatening to spill out—_out of fear? Or—_

Somehow, he felt calmer when he noticed the concern, but he was still cautious.

"I-I…" Tsuna stuttered. His brain couldn't seem to form the words he should say. Ito seemed to notice that, so he tried to help him out.

"If it is because of Byakuran, trust me that he will not do anything to you. He may seem suspicious and weird at first glance, but believe me when I say that it is just how he is," Ito said in his attempt to be reassuring. "Remember when Utakata-san said that it was he and his tenant that found you and your mother? This teen, Byakuran, is the tenant. You have nothing to worry about. The only thing you should worry about is the safety of your sweets whenever he is around!"

Tsuna's brain stopped thinking.

'…_Huh?'_

"Oh my, is that what you think of me, Ito-san? A thief for sweets?" Byakuran asked with fake hurt laced in his tone, his expression still showed one of that being amused. His lips still had that smile and his eyes were closed in mirth. Now that he calmed a bit_—still fearing, still blaming—_Tsuna realized some things that his intuition picked up. Somehow, Byakuran's expression seemed more genuine to Tsuna now, despite the fact that it looks just like the expression he had before and not different from the one he had seen when Byakuran was older.

_Real, authenthic, actual—_

"Well, if I remember right, you always hoarded the cakes and sweets I had in every visit you had here," Ito said almost accusingly with a slight frown as he turned his face slightly to Byakuran, but not completely. Tsuna swore he just saw Byakuran pouted childishly and he felt his emotion going haywire again, but for an entirely different reason.

'_He seemed more—'_

"Thank you."

Suddenly, all went silent after Tsuna spoke those two words. Tsuna noticed the surprised look of Ito before it contorted into one of a genuine relief.

"…For saving me and my mother, thank you," Tsuna said again, only to make himself clear. However, he didn't miss Byakuran's raised eyebrows as he said his sentence, or the gaze—calculating, or was it thinking, or perhaps _plotting for revenge?_—the white-haired man sent to him. The gaze only lasted for a second, before he hid them by closing his eyes and smiled widely. But, it was enough for Tsuna to doubt his judgment.

Tsuna turned away from that smile. His _intense dislike—fear, guilt—_never dissipate, but Ito had indirectly told him that this Byakuran was one of the factor, the reason, why he still alive, and that alone was enough for him to utter those two words of gratitude. But, his visible eye looked away, focusing on anything but the white-haired teen.

His past—_or perhaps Future?_—deed was one that couldn't be easily forgotten, after all.

_Which 'he'? Byakuran, or himself? _

"You're welcome… mmm….," he heard Byakuran replied, but Tsuna was a bit confused at the trailing tone at the end of his sentence.

"His name is Sawada Tsunayoshi," he heard Ito introduced his name, and Tsuna had to look, even if only to satisfy his curiosity. True enough, Ito was introducing him to Byakuran, and about to introduce the latter to him. "Sawada-kun, his name is Umibe Byakuran. He wasn't a local, and he has been living with Utakata-san for around four months now," Ito said, smiling.

"Nice to meet you, Sawada-kun," Byakuran said with a smile that Tsuna's intuition deemed as fake. However, he couldn't detect any malice from him, so Tsuna frowned. He wondered…

"Nice to meet you too, Umibe-san," Tsuna replied, using the introduced last name in purpose. If Byakuran wanted to keep the pretense of a stranger, then he would play along for now, at least until he can understand his reason.

_But, was he really pretending? Perhaps… he doesn't have his memory. And perhaps, he really doesn't know me…_

_But—!_

After both said their greeting, Ito smiled brightly in relief as he felt the tense atmosphere loosened. They were still tense, but Ito figured it was because they just met. He was curious about Tsuna's reaction when he saw Byakuran, but he tried to ignore it. He decided to think that it was because of Byakuran's unusual white hair and his creepy smile. He had been a weird—in a nice way, though—teen in Ito's eyes for quite a while now, anyway.

Suddenly, a sudden thought passed his head, making Ito to turn in the direction of Byakuran.

"Ah! That's right! Weren't you supposed to be here two hours ago? Why were you so late?" he asked, a dissatisfied frown marred his face as he voiced his question. "I began to think that maybe you're also capable to get lost in such rural town like here," he said half jokingly.

Chuckling lightly, Byakuran answered almost proudly, "I may have many capabilities, but getting lost has never been one of them."

"Then what took you so long?" Ito asked curiously as he straightened up. Tsuna then noticed that Ito still held the violin case in his hand, and it looked like he was giving it to Byakuran. The white-haired man received it and he put the plastic bag he brought with him on the desk before he opened the case and pulled the violin out.

"Yukari's Sweet Shop seemed so alluring when I passed that I couldn't help to enter it. I ended up staying there longer than I had intended," Byakuran answered easily with his smile, as if it was something that was meant to happen, a routine, as he positioned the violin to his neck. Tsuna didn't miss the exasperated sigh that came out from Ito's lips, even if it was barely noticeable.

"Again? Utakata-san will strangle you, to death most likely. You shouldn't waste your money so much."

After Byakuran seemed to be comfortable with the position of the violin by his neck, he tried to play a note. After a few moments of pondering, he started playing other random notes and twiddling with the string in between notes.

"I'll try to keep that in mind," he answered Ito's question as he kept playing, his smile still intact, seemingly to ignore Ito's advice.

"This is certainly in good condition," Byakuran suddenly said before he removes the violin from his neck and inspected it a bit. "But the sound doesn't seem to flow as smoothly as it should be," he commented again, frowning slightly.

Tsuna was confused, very confused, by the behavior that Byakuran showed. _Byakuran, just why is he here, actually?_

Tsuna had every right to be confused, considering the situation he was facing. All of a sudden, Byakuran appeared in front of his as a savior for him and his mother, when before he clearly wanted Tsuna dead. Not only that, Byakuran within the same room as him right now seemed to be the same with the one he met before in the Future, yet somehow this Byakuran was a different one at the same time.

_Should I be careful?_

It was then he heard a row of impatient sound of fist pounding against a board, loud and rhythmic against the wooden material somewhere outside the room. The sound managed to make Tsuna jumped a pit on his wheelchair, automatically cutting his train of thought.

"I'll get it," Ito offered as he left the room, leaving Tsuna and Byakuran alone. Before he left though, he stopped by Tsuna and crouched down to his level. "Byakuran is a bit weird, I'll admit. But trust me that he's not a bad person," he whispered to Tsuna, his expression was one of worry, "He's actually a nice kid."

After he finished what he had to say, Ito left, sparing a glance at the teens at the room before he closed the door. Soon after the sound of the closing door echoed in the room, it was deathly silent, broken only by the sound of Byakuran's tinkering with the violin. Tsuna felt a bit pressured under the awkward silence that seemed to stretch out between him and Byakuran. His right hand ready to grab his mittens and—if needed—put up a fight had Byakuran intended to do so, despite knowing that his pills weren't anywhere near him. Running away was his first option, but with him on a wheelchair, he doubted he could outrun him. Fighting back was the next option he had.

_But his fear and guilt kept pestering his conscience…_

"I won't be doing anything, so can you relax a bit?"

Instead of relaxing, the words only brought his defense even higher, since it was Byakuran that spoke. Tsuna's eyes narrowed in suspicion, glaring the white-haired teen in fear and doubts. Even though his mind told him to distrust the words Byakuran had spoken, his intuition can't pick up any malice or ill intentions from Byakuran's words. Somehow, the teen in front of him looked simply annoyed.

Sighing, Byakuran spoke again, this time without his wide smile. Instead, a slight frown and an expression of annoyance were visible on his face.

"You don't have to trust me, or even be nice to me. But, can you at least try making Ito-san less worried?" he said, his eyes still on the violin at his hand. Once or twice he'll play a note, before he did something to the string and played again. Somehow, every time he did what he did, the sound that flowed out in notes he played seemed clearer in Tsuna's ears. Transparent and beautiful, so perfect and enthralling, despite the fact that he only played random notes.

"You... Wh—," Tsuna about to begin, but Byakuran spoke instead, making him to swallow the words he was about to ask. Even so, what Byakuran said next had confirmed the question he had wanted to ask.

"I was beaten by you, and for me that's that. That game was over, and I lost," he said in the middle of his play before he stopped. He turned away from the violin on his hand then, facing Tsuna with a serious face. His earlier frown of annoyance still visible, but it was barely.

"Even if I wanted to replay the game, I no longer have the Mare Ring. My ability to see through parallel worlds was sealed together with the Mare ring, too. Not only that, my flame is useless without the Mare Ring. What do you think I can do to you now?"

Tsuna did have his suspicion, but to confirm it was another matter. Knowing that Byakuran did have his memory seemed to make him an even more dangerous man in Tsuna's eyes.

"You... remember?"

Byakuran only stared nonchalantly to the younger teen in front of him, before he returned his attention to the violin by his neck.

"I do," he said firmly, still concentrating in playing the violin, "But that's all. Like I said, it was a game where I had lost, and I am powerless to even try to play the same game again."

Tsuna forrowed his visible eyebrow in distrust as he watched Byakuran continued his activity, but he didn't feel that what he said was a lie either. It seemed more like... he didn't say the whole truth. For a while, that was all that Tsuna did, watching Byakuran, searching for the truth he didn't tell.

"Are you… going to kill me?"

Byakuran glanced back at him again, answering firmly, much firmer than when he admitted he remembered the future—_the future where Tsuna had incinerate him to nothingness._

"No."

Another sound came from the violin.

"…Why? You should've wanted to…"

"I do."

Tsuna went silent and backed off again. "…Then…"

The violins stopped again.

"Look," Byakuran started, as if he was tired of answering Tsuna's interrogating questions. "It all came to me like a dream, and I have to admit, seeing my death happening by your hands in the end has never been one of my best dream. But—"

Byakuran suddenly stopped talking, and then went back to the violin. "No, forget it. Just know that I have no intention of mingling my life with you this time, so you can be rest assured. I'm alive—just accept it."

"What are you—"

It was then he heard footsteps, coming closer, heading towards the room where he and Byakuran were. In the same time, he also noticed that Byakuran had stopped his playing, and his smile—the smile Tsuna had remembered—returned to his face, gracing his earlier nonchalant expression. Tsuna can't not to raise his eyebrows in question.

"I had something to ask. Just think of it as a last request from your defeated enemy," Byakuran said suddenly, as the footsteps got closer and closer, his smile firmly plastered, "Please don't say anything about mafia, or me."

Tsuna frowned, and his lips finally opened to ask the question he really wanted to ask.

"Why are you here, Byakuran?"

Byakuran didn't reply, but his smile still existed on his lips. After a while, when the footsteps came even closer, he only said one word.

"_Saa…_"

As he said that, the door slid open and both Ito and Utakata Kagami appeared from behind the door. However, Tsuna was too puzzled by Byakuran's request to really notice them. _What was he planning? What was it that he wanted? Why did he make such request?_

"Byakuran!" Tsuna heard Utakata-san's voice yelled out. He could detect a hint of worry and a bit of annoyance within the voice, but there was no real malice. It was borderline angry, but the anger more likely came from the worry.

Tsuna watched as grey-eyed man came closer to Byakuran, chiding him as if he was a child—like a big brother would chide their baby brother, or a young father to their child, which suited them the best Tsuna couldn't decide—who was caught redhanded doing something naughty. It was new, and weird, yet somehow it was also a refreshing sight to see for Tsuna.

Byakuran's smile didn't change, but Tsuna somehow felt something genuine—again?—from that smile.

_Is that… the reason?_

Everything seemed to fall into place as he watched the interaction, the banter between Kagami and Byakuran—no matter that it was almost one-sided, since Byakuran always replied with his witty response, which often caught the older man in loss of words. But, that feeling between them, that warm feeling…

_Was that why?_

That feeling, it was similar to the warm feeling he got when he was with… his friends, his family.

_Was that the reason?_

_He really seemed more…_

When he was with his most important and precious people…

'—_Human...'_

Just with that, Tsuna couldn't bring himself to keep his anger_—his fear was gone, his guilt… still there, but it was as if there was a little of that guilt being swept away, forgiven for a little bit_—for the white-haired teen in front of him. Somehow, in his eyes, Byakuran seemed more like a peculiar teen who thirst for family attention and love, instead of a twisted man who sought power for total world domination.

He really is—Tsuna admitted and acknowledged—a human.

* * *

Her round, big brown eyes peeked through the small opening in between the sliding door, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. She looked at the woman who was asleep on the _futon_ inside the room. Slowly, she let herself in, standing on her toes as she did in attempt to keep the creaking of the wooden floor to a minimum.

Her small lips parted, as if about to say something, but whatever that she had wanted to say was drowned in her throat as she closed those lips again. She prowled closer instead, to the side of the _futon,_ before she bend down to her knees and sat.

She watched the face of the woman who gave her a new meaning of a _mother_. Her skin pale, but not as pale as when she saw her the first time. But, by the side of her eyes, there were traces of drying tears, trailing down to her check before the trail ended by the side of her ears.

She remembered the woman's face when Sawada-kun revealed his condition to her. Somehow, her face that time seemed really sad, really hurt, as if she was in agony, as if it was herself that had lost her limb. It was an expression so different from her mother, or at least what she remembered of her.

But… why was that, she wondered.

It wasn't her that gotten hurt, so why did she cry so much? Why did it look like as if it was her loss?

…Why?

Was that… how a mother would feel when their brethren was hurt? But why would she feel pained? It wasn't like she could feel the pain… right?

Her immature mind couldn't comprehend the simplicity of that emotion… The emotion so foreign, so remote from her logic….

The feeling that also swelled in her heart as she saw the young mother cried for her son felt uncomfortable inside her little chest. It was a foreign feeling too, but she knew the name of it. She knew what it is.

Her eyes turned cold at the revelation.

* * *

"I've been wondering for a while now, but what is Bya—I mean, Umibe-san, doing?"

Tsuna was still by the side of the door, with Kagami standing beside him. Ito was standing near Byakuran, observing how he would tinker it before he tried to play another note, occasionally throwing in comments about the sound of the violin. Tsuna couldn't understand what both of them doing, and although he wanted nothing more to go back to his room, his curiosity made him to stay. He also felt going now would be rude to Kagami.

Kagami heard the question and glanced at the crippled teen in question before he answered, seemingly to shrug off the slip Tsuna made. "Byakuran is tuning the violin. Ito had complained to me on how the sound didn't seem to be in pitch, but I honestly didn't know what was wrong with it. Ito also only knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what to fix. Byakuran then offered his help," he said.

Tsuna's face then scrunched in confusion. "Complained to you?"

Kagami let out a smile then, before it turned to a grin, "Yeah. I was the one who made it, after all," he said with a hint of pride.

Tsuna's visible eyebrow then lurched upwards. "Eeeh? You can make instruments, Utakata-san?"

Almost eagerly, and not unlike a hyper child, Kagami nodded furiously, like he had been waiting for that question. "That's right! Not only instruments though. I can make almost anything from any solid material that's known on earth! In great quality too! Instruments, accessories, even special stuffs like Ito's medical equipment and electronics! I also enjoyed carving and crafting!" Kagami said proudly. Tsuna couldn't help but to be amazed by what he could do.

"_Sugee…."_ Tsuna muttered out in his awe, which made Kagami slightly embarrassed, as hinted by him scratching his cheek. But still Kagami felt his pride swelling.

"How were you able to learn how to make all that?" Tsuna asked again in his curiosity. However, Kagami didn't give him a straight answer. He just smiled a smile that seemed to split his face to two and put his index finger in front of his lips in a hushed motion as he said, "It's a secret~."

Tsuna only raised a curious eyebrow at that, before he smiled a small smile. "I see…. That must be nice, though. To have something that you can do….."

Kagami only let out a hum at the sentence, asking a silent 'why', urging him to continue wordlessly. And Tsuna understood.

"I…had been a failure, you see…," Tsuna began hesitatingly. "I always failed in every subject I stumble upon. Academically or physically, I couldn't catch up to those of my age. I always lagged behind…. Even my nickname, '_dame _Tsuna', originated from that," Tsuna then let out a forced laugh.

"I'm even scared of almost everything…. Added to that, now…."

Kagami stared at him with unreadable eyes, a gaze Tsuna didn't really notice since he was lost in his thought.

'…_I wonder… If I exist just to bring everyone down, then what is… my reason… here?'_ Tsuna thought to himself, but he didn't dare to voice it. It's not like he wanted to die either, because still he feared death. But, his inability to do anything right…

Before, he didn't really think of this. The thought passed his mind, but he never pondered about, especially since Reborn came. Protecting his friends, spending time with them, he was content with that. But now, as he remembered the reason why he didn't really have any friends before Reborn came, he began to ponder around the thought, especially the past when people always thought of him less than as a burden.

Every self confidence Reborn seemed to drill into him before seemed to evaporate, gone without trace.

'…_They would be better off without me… right? They…don't have to wait for me anymore. They also don't have to put up with my clumsiness, and also my stupidity…. Even though they said they were fine with it… at some point, they must got fed up, sometimes…. So… is it safe to assume they'll probably be better off without me?'_

After Gokudera had said that no matter what, he was still the Tenth in his eyes, he then thought his friends didn't mind his drawbacks at all, and they did. But… now…

As his sight shifted to his covered legs, and his right hand lifted to touch the bandages that covered his unusable eye lightly, he'll end up more like a dead weight rather than anything else. Reborn and the Vongola would probably think it over about him inheriting such important family, the only thing that connected him with his friends. Especially now that he lost his ring….

If he wasn't appointed to be the Vongola Decimo and met Reborn, his friends wouldn't even know he existed.

Perhaps… he really doesn't have anywhere to go back to now…

"…Then search for it. Find it."

Tsuna turned to Kagami in confusion then, his eyebrows scrunched together, creating a wrinkle on the spot in between his eyebrows. "Search for… what?" he asked. Kagami let out an encouraging smile then, as he told him more.

"For that thing, the thing that you can do."

"…I've told you, I don't—," however, Tsuna was cut off before he could finish his sentence.

"You have it. You know you have it, but you just brushed it off and thought that you don't," Kagami said, countering whatever argument Tsuna was about to say. "Everyone have it, even someone as small as Fuyu-chan has it. And, if you're also thinking about your reason to be here, to be among the living, then I should tell you this; no one really knows their reason of living as they were born. It's something you must find yourself."

The last sentence was said as if he could read his mind, hearing his unspoken question and answered it. Tsuna's eyes widened and his eyebrows rose, both in surprise and also in confusion. Before he could ask, however, Kagami continued.

"But, those kinds of things… I know that they are easier said than done," he said, his eyes closed as he resigned to let the wooden wall behind him to support his back. When his eyes opened again, their gaze were on the ceiling instead, yet not truly seeing, as it seemed he was drowned in his memory.

"There'll be obstacles, many of them, blocking your path until you felt like giving up… Until you no longer want to try and just giving everything up to the flow of time. Making you think things like 'that's how it's supposed to be', or 'ah, what else can I do?'… to even 'it has nothing to do with me', when actually, there is something you can do…."

'_It sounded like… how I used to be…'_ Tsuna thought as he listened to every word the older man said. It seemed those words came from the older man's personal experience, and Tsuna could relate to them perfectly.

"But…," Kagami started again, his head lowered a bit, away from the ceiling, and his expression changed. His eyes held a sad, yet filled with warmth. "…once you find someone, or even people you regarded as precious… People that will stick by you, through thick and thin, without yourself knowing why… They'll stay by your side, even though you want nothing more but for them to just leave you alone…. Once you find them, you'll find yourself changing…."

Kagami turned to face Tsuna then, smiling in encouragement and patted the thick, starfish-like hair that Tsuna had. "You have them, don't you?" he asked with understanding eyes, which were staring right at Tsuna. The hand that was patting the teen's hair then moved away, before suddenly it moved away and came back with a handkerchief.

Tsuna didn't realize he had been crying before he felt something cold trailing down his cheek, and the salty taste of his tears that reached the left corner of his lips.

"H-Huh? A-ah? W-Wah!" Tsuna rubbed his eyes in attempt to stop his tears, though still it streamed down with no sign of stopping soon. He then took the handkerchief Kagami held, trying his hardest to dry his eyes, all the while confused of the reason for his tears. They just kept on streaming, even though he tried to hold them from falling.

"S-Sorry, I d-don't know what c-came over me…," he said in between, his tears still streaming down. His sound hoarse, a lump was felt against the inside of his throat. His nose running against his will, so without the handkerchief Kagami gave him, he would surely be a slobbery mess. Kagami just smiled understandingly before he leaned back again.

"Hey, do you want to know how I met Byakuran?" Kagami said suddenly, changing the topic. He didn't wait for Tsuna's reply and just continue ahead.

"I found him when I was at the beach. He was staring at, either or both, the sky and the ocean. How he looked at them, as if he was contemplating something, thinking of something, intrigued me. I always love the sea and the sky, you see. That's why I was curious to see such a young teen to look at them with such seriousness. It made me remember how someone would look longingly at the sea in dramas," Kagami said with mirth lacing the tone of his voice. Tsuna was honestly surprised at how… cliché it was the way they met.

'_But… wasn't he supposed to be under surveillance? Did it mean he escaped?'_ Tsuna wondered to himself. He was still sniffing, but the tears finally stopped, thankfully.

"At first, I have to say he was quite annoying. He made me almost regret the day I agreed to let him stay in my house. He always asked for many things, especially sweet stuff. He never listened to me, and I almost gave up," Kagami complained, his tone reminded Tsuna to when he listened to a housewife next door complaining to her mother about how her child wouldn't listen to her and kept on giving more work for her. It seemed Byakuran didn't really change in a few aspects, Tsuna thought, almost smiling.

"And then? You seemed close now. What happened?" Tsuna asked curiously, no longer sniffing or crying.

"Well, I guess it was because of Fuyu-chan," Kagami answered thoughtfully. Tsuna raised his eyebrows then.

"Fuyu-chan?"

Nodding, Kagami continued, "He unexpectedly has a soft spot for kids…."

Tsuna couldn't keep his visible eye from widening. "What? Really? He has?" Tsuna asked in disbelief before he turned towards Byakuran who was still discussing things with Ito. He didn't seem to realize the talking going behind his back. Remembering how he had used Uni for his own gain in the future made it hard for Tsuna to believe that statement.

Chuckling, Kagami continued again, "Haha, I also find it hard to believe," he said. "But that was how I found out that he was more than a troubling and whiny teen."

"And don't you think I'll see you more than a stupid, clumsy, and annoying landlord if you don't talk those things behind my back, Kaga-chan?"

Tsuna flinched when he suddenly heard Byakuran's playful voice, which somehow hinted with annoyance. Slowly, he turned his head to see Byakuran nowhere in his previous spot, and now standing in front of them, seemingly to overshadow them, as he stood there with a big, toothless smile that somehow only amplified his annoyance rather than his amusement, especially at how Byakuran's eyebrow seemed to twitch. The violin is still in his hand, gripped in a force that wasn't enough to break the wooden instrument, but enough to make Ito break into cold sweat in the background. "And I'm not whiny."

"But Byakuran-kun, I'm talking right in front of you," Kagami answered with his own smile of amusement, which somehow gave off a feeling as if Kagami was challenging the marshmallow lover. "And you were a little whiny bastard."

Byakuran's eyebrow twitched, and it looked as if he popped a vein. Still, he grinned widely, but it was a grin that made Tsuna to unconsciously back away. The violin in his hand was gripped even with more force.

"Have you ever wondered how the sea at midnight would be? I can arrange so that you'll find yourself sleeping there tonight," he challenged. Tsuna backed away even further, preferring to be by Ito's side for now, away from the bickering.

"Nope, but I hear it could be pretty cold, especially around the depth. I hate cold, so no, thank you," Kagami answered back, definitely accepting Byakuran's challenge.

Tsuna preferred to hide behind Ito's back after he saw Byakuran's grin changed to one of a madman's. He almost thought that, perhaps, Byakuran didn't really change at all.

Then again, as he heard Ito's sigh, despite of the noises that Kagami and Byakuran made in their quarrel, and noticed Byakuran had carefully kept the violin intact in his hand, Tsuna changed his mind again. He then remembered Kagami's words.

"_But…," Kagami started again, his head lowered a bit, away from the ceiling, and his expression changed. His eyes held a sad, yet filled with warmth. "…once you find someone, or even people you regarded as precious… People that will stick by you, through thick and thin… They'll stay by your side, even though you want nothing more but for them to just leave you alone…. Once you find them, you'll find yourself changing…."_

Tsuna stared at their interaction with each other, his intuition picked up a friendly feeling between them. Their argument now sounded more like the bickering between Yamamoto and Gokudera—no, it was more like himself and Reborn, in a more casual way… There was a sense of respect too, somehow…

'…_Ah…_

'_So that's it…_

'_I get it now…_

'…_So that's what it is…'_

Tsuna's perspective on Byakuran changed that very minute.

* * *

Soon, the hot summer air gradually became soft and cool breeze of autumn. The season shifting, and the rays of the sun shining were no longer unbearable. The temperature decreased a few degrees, making people to wear more clothes to protect them from the coolness that comes with it. Not cold enough for winter, but not warm enough for summer.

On the wheelchair he sat, overlooking the porch to see the garden of Ito's house. The leaves of the trees had turned red and brown, falling down beautifully, fluttering and turning in their way to the ground, almost like trying to keep their time above the ground a bit longer.

A soft gust of wind passed by him once or twice, making him to shiver a bit despite his warmer clothes. A red scarf tied around his neck, with his white and orange jacket to keep him warm. By his lap was a white blanket, used not only to keep him warm, but also to keep his leg hidden underneath. His bandages that covered his eye before was removed, replaced by a square medical eye patch, which was unseen because of his bangs.

His hair had grown over the summer, and Kagami had helped him to cut his hair, keeping them in place and in his usual style. Though, he let his bangs grow, letting them to cover both of his eyes. He didn't quite like it when people notice his bandages and stare, like when he was taken around town by Ito and Kagami. He never liked such attention since before, and still don't. Though, to let him see properly, Kagami had taken it upon himself to slightly change the style of his bangs. Kagami made a small parting just above Tsuna's good eye, enough for him to see through the slit, but not enough for people to see his eyes.

When he saw his reflection, his bangs reminded him of a certain prince from Varia, especially on how it seems to cover both of his eyes, making the only visible part of his face the tip of his nose and his lips. He vaguely wondered if said prince did the same as Kagami to keep his sight unharmed…

"Tsu-nii?"

Tsuna turned to see Fuyu behind him, timidly looking at him from behind the sliding door that led to inside the house. A few strands of her brown locks fell to her face, her round eyes drooped slightly. Judging from the fact that she still adorned her pastel sleeping dress, Tsuna concluded that she just woke up.

"Yes, Fu-chan?" Tsuna asked, smiling a reassuring smile to encourage the child to come closer, one hand extended to her direction. The child walked closer to him, reaching for the extended hand offered. Her eyes still drooping, looking like she wanted to get some more sleep. After Fuyu had reached where Tsuna sat, he pulled her up and settled her on his lap. Fuyu quickly get comfortable, all the while trying to evade Tsuna's bad leg.

Over the summer, both had grown closer, and became like brother and sister. Fuyu began to call him 'Tsu-nii', an endearment she adopted from his mother, as his mother had always called him 'Tsu-kun'. He himself always called her 'Fu-chan', an endearment he adopted from Byakuran, and also on Fuyu's insistence. Thus, Tsuna began to think of her as a precious little sister, and she to him as a beloved older brother. Tsuna's lap was her place to look for comfort and warmth, and Fuyu's scent of baby oil and powder was his place to relieve his longing for home, for Namimori.

"_Chichi _said you are to continue your practice on violin alone after breakfast. Shiro-chan will come before noon to supervise you, or so he said," she said lowly, almost like a whisper. It was clear in her tone that she was still sleepy, though Tsuna was mildly amused since she rarely spoke two sentences at once. Though, he was glad Fuyu had become comfortable enough around him to lose her stuttering when in his presence, unlike when he just came. Her shy nature would remind him of I-Pin from time to time, but her calm attitude and her maturity beyond her age that she showed in some rare times reminded him of Chrome.

"Shiro-chan? You mean Byakuran?" Tsuna said, slightly laughing when the child nodded sleepily once. Byakuran abhorred the nickname, but the name already stuck inside the child's mind and there was nothing he could say to diminish the name. Ito-san said she called the teen as such since his hair is in the color of white. Byakuran hadn't—or refused to—introduce himself properly at the time of their first meeting, so Fuyu-chan had taken it upon herself to call him 'Shiro-chan'. Tsuna must say, Byakuran's expression every time he sighed in dejection whenever he failed to convince Fuyu to call him 'Byakuran-nii' was quite hilarious.

"I see. Does Ito-san have errands to do again today?" Tsuna asked, and the child nodded again. Tsuna absently hummed then. After a few days of practice under Ito's guidance, Tsuna noticed how it seems Ito always seemed to be missing in a few mornings. He said it was because he had to do some errands, but somehow Tsuna's instinct picked up something else, a secret, which he shrugged off as nothing despite the uneasiness. In those days, he often would ask for Byakuran's help to supervise his practice, who somehow always came as asked, although reluctantly. How Ito managed to convince the marshmallow-loving teen to help, Tsuna had no idea.

Tsuna had to say, Byakuran had been a good teacher, even better than Ito. His way of teaching was easy to understand, and as Kagami had said once, he was a violin genius. He also had perfect pitch, an ability that enabled him to recognize tones more easily, or so Ito had said. He could've become a famous violinist, had he wished to, and be an influential figure in the music world.

Why he decided to become a mafia in the future and threw away his potential in order to aim for world domination instead, Tsuna couldn't even begin to understand.

Tsuna was brought out of his musing when he felt Fuyu's weight shifted. He then realized the child had fallen asleep again. Blinking, Tsuna tried to wake the child, but it seemed Fuyu was too comfortable on his laps that she refused to wake, leaning more Tsuna's torso as a result.

Seeing the peaceful face Fuyu had adorned as she slept, Tsuna could only sigh in defeat and patted her brown hair lightly instead. "I guess another minute wouldn't hurt…"

* * *

Hiding behind the shadows, a figure watched as the child slept on the boy's lap and as the boy's hand moved to pat the child's hair gently from a small opening made by the sliding door and the shoji wall that separated them.

"He is getting close to the child," a voice said, but it didn't come from the figure, as the figure's lips didn't move. The figure's eyes darted away from the sight before a hand silently closed the door, carefully as to not make any sound.

"…Is that alright, to let them get so close?" the voice said again as the figure went further inside the house, got out of the room and went to the hallways.

"…Ito?"

Ito stopped on his track and looked behind him, facing the speaker. His expression was hidden by the shadows of the dim hallways. "It is alright," he said firmly, signaling the speaker to end the conversation there.

Ito then left the house, with the owner of the voice following behind him.

* * *

"…You know I'm not the right person you should talk to about this," Byakuran said, almost in monotone, after Tsuna had suddenly talked about what had been bothering his mind. They were in the middle of their five-minute break from practice. Byakuran's violin was put inside the case for safe-keeping as his hand was preoccupied with a warm chocolate drink, courtesy of himself, while Tsuna's was still in his hold.

"I know," Tsuna answered. His grip on the neck of the violin tightens then. "But you're the only one I can talk to."

Tsuna realized that by now, both he and his mother were probably already declared as dead, even though news would still list them as missing. He realized months already passed since the accident, and perhaps his friends already moved on with life, a thought that brought both relief and a foreign feeling of discomfort to Tsuna.

But, thinking back to what Kagami had said to him back in summer, he felt guilty. He knew that they probably had been worried sick, and grieving, especially if he really was declared dead. He knew that what he was doing could be considered as lying, to his friends, nonetheless.

But he wasn't sure he wanted to return either.

"Hey, Byakuran…," he started again, his head bowed down so that his bangs hid even the tip of his nose. "…What do you think I should do?"

Byakuran gave the younger male a sideway glance, before he gulped down the rest of his chocolate drink and stood up. The empty cup was put down then, and he took the violin to his grip again.

"How about you start by learning how to play a bit more decently? The way you play now makes my ears bleed. Your mother may be alright with it, but my ears are quite sensitive," Byakuran said, with his back facing Tsuna. The words were said without any means to make the listener feel better, and it was supposed to be insulting. But, the mirth inside the tone made Tsuna to think otherwise.

Tsuna widened his visible eye hidden underneath his bangs, before it softened and a small smile formed on his lips.

"…Alright."

Tsuna had tried to play the song, _Amazing Grace_, to his mother before, just after he got the keys memorized and he had learned how to make the sound comes out according to the keys. However, he played it very messily and, as Byakuran said it, made his ears bleed. But, when he finished playing, his mother had _smiled, _before she pulled him into a hug. It was then he knew that his mother was happy, and really proud of him, her _no-good_ son. He didn't know why, but the thought brought a smile to his face, and he returned the hug.

Remembering it made Tsuna felt better already.

* * *

_Soushite bouya wa nemuri ni tsuita…  
(And then the little boy falls asleep…)_

By herself in her own room, the little girl sang the song she had heard a few times, sung by the woman that was so warm, so kind, as if she was an angel that came down to earth.

_Ikizuku hai no naka no honoo…  
(Among the ashes in the flames shining…)_

Fuyu's childish voice sang the song in hushed tone, not wanting anyone outside her room to hear her singing. She wondered, if she could sing like the mother of her beloved older brother. The way she sang the song, it calmed even her every time she heard it.

_Hitotsu… futatsu to…  
(First one, then two…)_

Her singing then ended after that particular lyric, as she noticed the time came for her to check on the warm woman she had come to like. With renewed vigor, she ran outside her room to the kitchen. She then prepared some food for her, warm just like how she felt about her. She also prepared a small vial of medicine, the one that her father told her as the warm woman's medicine, and a glass of warm water. She carefully put them all on a wooden tray, before she took them to the room where the warm woman resides.

"…Nana-san?" she called out when she arrived to her room. She then saw the woman sitting on her bed, turning her head at her and smiled when she heard her call.

"Fuyu-chan!" Nana said back. Fuyu couldn't hold back her smile as she entered and close the door behind her. She then put down the food and the medicine beside Nana's bed. She sat down then, smiling as Nana said her thanks and started to eat the food brought for her.

It was Fuyu's routine every day. She would bring Nana her food and medicine every day, and stayed in her room with her until it was time for Tsuna to come by. She would listen to Nana's stories about Namimori, about the children in her house, and about her life before the accident. It was always entertaining for her. Nana would go to great detail every time she told her stories, making it easier for Fuyu to imagine her life before.

Seeing how Nana would have an expression of happiness every time she told her stories, Fuyu wondered if she would be able to see the people in her stories someday…

"Ne, Nana-san… Tell me more about the green turtle that Tsu-nii's _oniisan_ owned!"

* * *

"Boss?"

The autumn wind blew on gently, yet coldly. The wind that caressed his skin felt too cold for him, as did his heart as he saw the barren house in front of him. His blond hair that was swayed by the wind hid his expression, his frown, and the way his eyes glint in sadness.

Cavallone Dino, the Tenth Boss of the Cavallone Family, known as the Bucking Horse Dino, never thought this kind of thing would happen out of the blue. It was too sudden, too tragic to actually happen, he thought as he stood in front of the door of the house that used to have so much life within it.

He turned to the left, to see how the grass had grown and unattended. Fallen leaves scattered over, making the once neat, clean lawn looked even more messy and reminded him that there won't be anyone to clean them up.

The owners were gone, after all.

"Boss? Are you alright?" one of his subordinate, Romario, he presumed, asked from behind him. Dino didn't answer, as he turned the knob of the door, and find it was unlocked.

"It was left unlocked, so they can return back whenever they wanted to, or so those herbivores said," a voice said from his right, uncaring and indifferent. He didn't need to turn to know who it was. The tone that said he could care less about whatever was said could only mean one person.

He had seen his underlings positioned around the house, too.

"…I see…" Dino merely said, before he ventured deeper into the house without another question. After months of being empty, the layer of dust that covered the furniture and floor had accumulated to the point it left a dark spot under his finger when he touched it.

Before he walked even deeper, he stopped for a while, contemplating whether he should take off his shoes or not, before deciding the latter and went to venture the kitchen.

The dining table was still as he remembered it, so did the interior of said kitchen. But somehow, they didn't feel the same without the laugh, the chaos, and the nice smell of food he had come to missed so badly.

He took a step back and wandered around the house for a while, taking in the changes that occurred simply because the owners were gone. He checked the bathroom, the living room, before going up and checked the room his little brother used to live in.

Everything was the same; they were dark, dusty, and smelled like dust. Gone were the warmth, the light, and the welcoming smell the house used to have. Even as he walked, all he could hear were the sound of the wind, his breathing, and his own footsteps.

Most of all, it was too cold.

"…It's not even winter yet…," he mumbled out, noticing how his whisper sounded so loud inside the empty house.

He didn't believe it at first, when he heard the news. There were no signs, no warning. He already thought that they would have a wonderful, yet adventurous trip, in courtesy of Reborn, in Okinawa, but then he heard of the plane crash. It was too sudden, too unexpected.

He couldn't think of anything that time.

For months, until the middle of autumn, he had assisted the Vongola in looking for both Sawada, but all was useless. The guardians did their best too, but alas, the fact they were still students hindered their movement. The signs that came from Tsuna's ring disappeared not long after it appeared, before they could even pinpoint an exact location, too. When they checked the general location, turned out it was the part of the sea where the plane had crashed. Some thought they already drowned, but he didn't want to think of it. He kept looking, dispatching more of his members to check inside the depth.

Their bodies were never found, a thought that brought both dread and relief to those who care for their well-being.

After months, he couldn't help but to give up. So did some others.

Even if they had survived the crash, there was no telling they still survived without food. There was no news about their whereabouts, despite the news about them had become the headlines in the whole country in those months, making the chance of them surviving somewhere with civilization slim.

That was why, now as he fell to his knees inside Tsuna's room, where his subordinates would not be able to see him, he mourned.

He couldn't let his subordinates to see his tears, after all.

"And it's barely a year too, since I have a little brother…."

* * *

Without notice, autumn soon ended and the temperature went down even more. This time, no longer was the view obscured with colorful leaves falling to earth; but it was not yet replaced with the beautiful falling snow that painted everything in its color of white. Trees were left barren without their leaves, but snow had not yet fallen. The end of autumn, the beginning of winter.

"Ne, Kaa-san…," Tsuna began as he leaned his back to the wheelchair where he sat, after he was done playing the violin to his mother, a routine that he had began the minute he was able to get keys correctly. His play was still messy, but there were improvements here and there.

By his side, there was his mother, who had been given a bed rather than a futon, with a thick blanket covering her body, as the temperature would become unforgiving soon. She was almost lulled to sleep, but she heard of his calling, so she hummed and turned to face him, waiting and listening to what her son wanted to say.

"…Don't you wish to return? Back to Namimori?" he finally asked. "Ito-san had said it too. It'll be better to put you in hospital for better treatment, so you can heal faster. Namimori, despite being a small town, has it better than here, or so Ito said. We didn't need to think about the fee too, since Ito said he'll take care of it…."

The question came out of the blue, and it caught his mother off-guard. However, after a few moments of thinking, His mother showed that smile again; knowing, yet sad.

Tsuna thought she would say yes, but then she shook her head.

"If we go back now," she said, "…they'll be very worried and sad."

He glanced down to her mother, observing her pale complexion that didn't look anything near healthy. Then, he glanced to his lap, to see the uneven elevation of the blanket that hid both his leg and the lack of one. And then, the bangs that curtained the upper part of his face reminded him another of his lacking.

Her reason was the same as his.

His mother longed to go back, to their _home,_ Tsuna knew. But, she also didn't want _them_ to be worried, to be sad when knowing their frail condition. She wanted to go _home_, but later when she was healed.

Like mother like son, indeed.

"…Are you sure, _kaa-san_?" Tsuna asked again, just to be sure. When his mother wasted no time to nod, he guessed there was no need to question her decision.

He should be glad, since he wished for the same. But then, why there was a slight disappointment in him when he heard of her answer? He should be relieved, since what he wished for didn't go against her wish. So, why did he feel so conflicted?

"…I see," he said to his mother, forcing a small smile as well. He then tucked her in and let her sleep, before leaving the room to provide her some rest.

Byakuran should be here around this time….

Soon enough, he found the white-haired teen inside the kitchen, making a hot cocoa for himself and—judging by having the little girl on his side and a smaller cup beside his bigger mug—Fuyu.

"Tsu-nii!" Fuyu exclaimed as she left Byakuran's side and came closer to him. "We're making hot chocolate! Want some?"

Tsuna glanced up to see Byakuran prepared another mug, so he smiled and nodded. "Sure! That'll be nice."

Fuyu's face brightened then, before she went back to Byakuran's side to help him prepare the drink for three. Tsuna moved his wheelchair then, to face the dining table in the middle of the room. He didn't have to wait long, since a few moments after he settled himself, Byakuran brought a cup filled with hot cocoa on the table in front of him.

"Ah, thank you," Tsuna said. Byakuran just smiled his usual fake smile and sat down on the chair two chairs beside him, while Fuyu chose a seat right in the middle of them.

"Itadakimasu!" Fuyu exclaimed happily before she drank down the warm cocoa, followed by Byakuran, and then Tsuna. They drank in a comfortable silence, each of them too distracted by their drinks to start a conversation.

"Ne, Tsu-nii?" Fuyu called out right after she was done with her drink. Tsuna then turned to her and hummed, curious as to what she would say.

"Would Lambo-chan enjoyed this kind of drink?" she asked curiously and innocently, but for Tsuna, it was almost like a hammer came thundering down.

"W-Wha—?" Tsuna was spluttering, and he was suddenly at a loss of words.

"Nana-san said he loved sweet things, right? So, I guess he would like this too…," Fuyu continued on, either ignoring or didn't realize the shocked state of the person she had asked. "Ah, but I guess Fuuta-kun and I-Pin-chan would love this too! Ah, but I wonder—"

"Why did you ask that, Fuyu?" Byakuran asked her the question Tsuna had wanted to ask, but unable to since he was still in the state of shock. The question automatically stopped Fuyu of her rambling and made her to glance up to see Byakuran's bewildered face.

"Nana-san told me all about them," she said, "…So much and so often that I began to feel like I've known them already, despite never really seeing them…."

"…You wanted to meet them?" Tsuna asked after he found his voice. He then noticed the slight blush that appeared on both of her cheeks before she shyly nodded.

"I guess I wanted to see how they really looked like…"

The kitchen was silent after that, since Tsuna once again didn't know what to say to the child. But, it seems he didn't have to, since she quickly went down the chair and bolted out of the room in her embarrassment, leaving Tsuna and Byakuran alone in the room.

Byakuran let the silence stretch for a while, before he finished his drink and brought both his empty mug and Fuyu's cup to the sink.

"Would you listen to me again?" Tsuna asked suddenly. Byakuran didn't answer, but he continued anyway.

"Kaa-san said she didn't wish to return just yet," Tsuna began, without waiting for Byakuran's consent. Meanwhile, Byakuran turned the tap and began washing the cups. It unknown whether he heard what Tsuna said or not. But, it seemed Tsuna ignored the other's indifference.

"Her reason was the same as me…," he said again, his voice small, almost drowned out by the sound of the water running. "So, there shouldn't be problems… right?"

Byakuran then turned off the tap and rubbed the cups clean with a dry cloth, seemingly ignoring Tsuna.

"I should be glad… But why do I feel disappointed?" Tsuna said as his face scrunched up in confusion, a sad glint in his visible eye.

Byakuran then let out a sigh as he stopped what he was doing and sat back on the dining chair.

"I'm not your personal counselor," Byakuran said at last. His tone was cold and disinterested, but Tsuna took his action of sitting down as a positive gesture. True enough, because then Byakuran continued.

"I don't know why you felt like that," Byakuran said bluntly, "But, to me it seems like you were afraid of doing what you wanted, or not knowing what you want, so you were using your mother's wants instead."

Tsuna was confused by that. He didn't use her mother wants… Didn't he already think the same even before autumn began? So what did he—

He then realized that, perhaps, Byakuran was stating the obvious. He knew he felt the same as his mother, but part of it—he realized—was originated from his selfishness. However, another part of him still missed them and long to meet them soon, and that part was what caused the feeling of disappointment when his mother decided to stay of a more while.

As he pondered around his feelings, he didn't notice that Byakuran had left the room, leaving him alone in the kitchen.

* * *

"I'm sorry…"

Light yet humorless chuckle then could be heard. The laugh itself sounded forced, more like to be polite.

"Why would you feel sorry, Mizusawa-san? You did what you could."

Mizusawa Ito still had his head bowed down. If one would look closely to his face, one would find that he wore such a regretful look.

A small, sad smile appeared on the lips that previously spoke.

"You and Tsu-kun… just didn't want to worry me, _ne?_ I wonder if any of you would tell me had I not found it out._" _

Ito bit his lip, wondering if he should say anything.

"Is there a way to return Tsu-kun's eye back, Mizusawa-san?"

A question the he didn't really wanted to answer, but the look on her face… almost pleading… Hoping…

He looked down then, contemplating if he should answer that. He closed his eye when he made his decision before facing the woman in question with a look that told how heavy his heart was when he uttered his answer.

"There is, Sawada-san… But it will be a gamble."

* * *

**~|To be Continued|~**

* * *

**Words That You Might Not Know :**

_Awolgente Vuoto : _Enveloping Void

_Saa :_ (I don't know how to explain this one... But, I think it's a common word, so I'll just assume you all already knew.)

_ne? :_ (read above)

**Sapphire09:** This chapter seemed so... flat. Even the dialogues don't seem satisfactory...

You may notice that I rushed things, and I'm sorry about that. I really need to start on Target II soon, or I'll get agitated to death... So, I'm sorry for those who wanted sweeter, family-ish scenes. I'm also sorry that I left out many about Byakuran, also how come he could get quite close with Kagami, but at least now you know he's good and nice, ne? He even involuntarily became Tsu-kun's counselor!

I rushed and let wonders of the time skip works, and there are still things I haven't cleared up (the voice inside Tsuna's head, etc), and I'm sorry for that. I really do. But, I wanted to end this Target in the next (or the next after the next, depending on how it turned out) chapter, and I really wanted to write about the guardian soon. Maybe I'll just reveal the thing about the voice in the end of this target, or in the next target...

I've tried to make the relationship between Tsuna and Byakuran works. I don't want them to be too close (at least not yet), since they had been enemies once. I don't know if I made it seemed natural, but I've tried my best.

Oh, I'm sure you already knew who that was in the last scene, talking with Ito. It was Sawada Nana, Tsuna's one and only mother. She found out about Tsuna's right eye unable to see again. How? Parental instinct. 'nuff said. Along the show, I've always thought that Nana had quite strong parental instinct, despite that she rarely act on or show it. Still, I could always change the reason in the next chapter, if I ever wanted to to change that. If I didn't explain anything, that this reason works.

Anyway, Tsuna could play a violin now! And Byakuran is a violin expert! And Fuyu seemed a little bit forgotten... hmmm... oh well.

**Answer To Your Reviews:**

**Chariot330**L: Yupz! Sankyuu~ DaH Ku4PDeT N1cH (nyoba nge-alay dikit. ROFL!)

**VAY-hale**:Then is good Byakuran good? not bad? No problems at all!

**orangesky3: **Thank you! Eeh...hhehehe... I feel so sheepish. Just how I did such stupid mistake? Stupid typo! I'll fix it right away! Woah, you're a violinist? Great! Then I need your opinion on this chapter, did I make the time Tsuna needed to learn one song believable? Logical? PLeasepleaseplease tell me! *puppy face* I agree! I first heard it from Detective Conan Movie 12, and it was a really good song! What I meant as random was when I decided that 'Tsuna should learn an instrument!' thought was put into action. Lol. Thanks for the review! I wish you a good night sleep then!

**LilyMoonstone**: Then a good guy he will be! But, nothing has changed with his past. But, he is still changed, thanks to Kagami (I really should write more background on both of them...). Don't worry though, I'll make sure Shoichi and Byakuran be friends some time in the future chapter. After all, he's good now! For the voice, I'm still thinking about it. Sorry :) I'm not so sure myself. If I said no, what if I decided to make it Tsuna's HDWM self in the end? I'll be a liar then. If I said yes, not only that will be a spoiler, but also what if I decided it should be someone/thing else? I'll still going to be a liar, don't you agree?

**VongolaPrimo27**: Thank you for the good luck! Hmm, maybe Byakuran really could do something, ne? Here's a chapter!

**The-Saddest-Of-Them-All**: Thank you! Don't we all just wish for the same thing? I already has plans, but I don't know if it's awesome or not. You tell me:) Yes, when Tsuna and Nana were fount Tsuna's leg were gone, ripped. Ito only cleaned the cut, making it neater and bandaged it (or whatever doctors supposed to do to cover the wound). The leg wasn't found because the plane's propeller (the plane was blown into bits, after all) cut the leg and fishes eat the remains (they did fall into the sea), while bigger fish in the depths eat the bones. Still, your idea is quite interesting, so I think that could change :) Thank you!

**Jenni(dot)miko**:Sorry about the name change. The site won't let it appear! Don't worry, I'll write about the guardians soon, as soon as this target is finished. Well, your wish has been granted, and an update has arrived!

**Reidluver**: Why, thank you! Meeting Byakuran out of nowhere will really surprise anyone, don't you agree? lolz.

**LonelyDayzDreamer**: Don't we all just hate that peddler? I wish he would just drown in the Caribbean Sea, and one of the fishes would return the ring to Tsuna! (Wait, I could make that happen! Kufufufu...). You think it was cute? I'm glad! Well, now that there's Nana, but she could only be the mother part. She is Iemitsu's wive, and if Ito dared to lay a hand on her, I think Iemitsu would bring the whole CEDEF to kill Ito if he ever heard about it, no? Well, now you know what he's going to do! (Unless I decided to throw that plot twist somewhere in the future chapter... kukuku...). Woah! You can play the piano? I'm so jealous... Thanks for the reference, by the way. It's totally helpful! But, I don't like it if Tsuna learned things too rapidly (except, of course, if it was something physical, like fighting or making up new techniques). Thanks for the support! Here's an update, and I hope this is satisfactory enough :D

**Yuki949**: Oh yeah, he's back... Kufufufu... (lolz)

**Hajimeru Rinko: **Thank you so much! I'm glad the story didn't make you depressed forever. Here's an update!

**HaruKatsuki**: It really was a good thing, wasn't it? Here's a chapter!

**Cielo di Vaniglia**: Akhirnya, ada reader indonesia! Aku senang~ Hhehe, makasii pujiannya. Yaa, sebenernya sii aku juga masih sekolah, calon anak UAN. Tapi, taulah, dari awal masuk aja anak kelas 3 pasti udah diarahin buat UAN. Belum lagi dirundung ulangan ma try out- try out yang bikin badan merinding. Hiiih! Oh, itu bukannya merah putih beneran, tapi rambut putihnya Byakuran kena cahaya matahari yang kemerahan, jadinya bagian yang kena senar itu kayak jadi merah. Apalagi kan rambutnya putih, hhehehe... Dapet gambarannya gak? Deskripsiku kurang jelas yah di chapter sebelumnya? Gomen... Ntar coba deh kuperbaiki. Nih dia chapter barunya~ Enjoy! Makasii koreksiannya. Kuganti deh :)

**TunaFish27**: Here's more! Thanks for the review! Here you go, a good!Byakuran! Tee-hee

Again, thank you for the reviews! Sorry is I had said anything that might offense you. Please realize that I did not mean them in a bad way, or even to hurt.

Anyway, I changed the format of my reply, just to make it easier to read. I realized that if I used the usual, my own eye hurts... Sorry about that...

By the way, I'm in the middle my my first term exam (I didn't pass math, chemistry, and history... I can only hope that in Biology this Monday I will make it ;A;), and a University exam is coming up too. Wish me luck!

Like always, every critic will improve this story, and every reviews became my fuel to work harder!

**[EDIT]** By the way, I've changed a few things. The storyline was kept the same, but I decided to explain things a bit more. Before, I used Tsuna's perspective only, and didn't explain the situation thoroughly. So, now I give you this version. I would like to know whether you like this version better of the previous one (if you've read the previous one). I suggest that you tell me through PM, but reviews are fine too, since this is released together with Code 6. I do hope that you'll like this one better… I mean, from 6K words to over 10K! If this is, somehow, worse…. I'll go I-Pin embarrassed…. And blow up…. To smithereens… (lol!)**[EDIT]**


	7. Code 06: Sussurri Nelle Tenebre

**[NOTICE]** Since it has been a while since I last updated, and there are also a few changes in few chapters (mainly with the _mysterious voice's_ dialogues), I shamelessly ask that you re-read this story. Especially in Code 5, I've made a huge make-over. Sure, the storyline didn't change, but I've decided to drop some more hints in that chapter, and made it longer. I guess it still seemed rushed, but I really hope you'll be satisfied. **[NOTICE]**

**Sapphire09: **New chapter! Nufufu~

**DISCLAIMER:** I own KHR! MWAHAHAHA—ack! *stabbed by Amano-sensei, and was reclaimed*

**WARNINGS: **Grammar, OOCness, and total fail... ;A; (oh, and another appearance of (a) new OC(s). I did tell you this fic will be rained with OCs, didn't I?)

* * *

**~|Due Cieli|~  
**_(Two Skies)  
by Sapphire09_

* * *

"_She was a constant thing in my life, no matter how hectic it was. She was always there for me, even though I rarely there for her."_

_[?]_

* * *

**TARGET I  
**_The Darkest Sky of Night_

* * *

**Code ****06**_ –_ _**Sussurri**__** Nelle Tenebre**_

* * *

It was around November that Tsuna noticed just how frail his mother had become. There were no signs at all of her getting better. In fact, Tsuna thought she was getting worse day by day. Her temperature was too cold, though it was either because she was sick of because of the winter. However still, she wasn't getting better. It worried him, so worried that he was afraid to leave his mother alone.

He had asked Ito before, about his mother's condition. It seemed there was a peculiar disease that attacked her when her immunity was down, after the accident. At first, it looked like the usual fever and cold, but after further examination, it wasn't any of those at all. Ito couldn't explain just what kind of disease that his mother currently housing, but he reassured that he will do his best to cure her.

Despite Ito's promise, however, he was worried. His mother had been wheezing and coughing too much, and the frequency only rose up when winter started. Like today, she was coughing too much to be considered in better health. He was afraid that she would cough blood in one of these days.

"_Kaa-san_, should I call Ito-san here?" Tsuna asked when the coughing subsided. Nana smiled at her son's concern, but she shook her head.

"No need, Tsu-kun. I'm fine. It's probably the cold," Nana said in assurance. Tsuna frowned at his mother's refusal, still thinking that he should call the brunet doctor. Nana noticed the frown, and again she smiled to assure him that she was fine.

"Look, I'll rest up, okay?" Nana said as she laid her back against the bed and pulled the blanket to cover her body to prove a point, "So don't worry too much. Why don't you play with Fuyu and Byakuran? The falling snow seems so pretty outside."

Tsuna frowned then. "It is pretty, but it's also too cold, especially this afternoon," he objected. He then tried to move with his wheelchair and fixed the rumpled blanket and made sure his mother would have a comfortable sleep. Nana only chuckled as she let Tsuna to fix the blanket, making sure every part of her body was covered and there were no holes where the wind could slip in. He also replaced her pillow with a comfier one, though there really wasn't any significant difference. It was just Tsuna's personal reference.

"Should I play for you, _Kaa-san_?" Tsuna asked as he began to reach a violin case near his mother's futon, a violin borrowed from Ito and put nearby in sole purpose of playing for his mother every time she liked it.

Nana's bright smile never faltered as she accepted his offer. After all, she always liked it when her son plays, even when he played it for the first time. Somehow, it sounds like the most beautiful piece in her ears, since the very beginning.

"Of course, Tsu-kun."

So, he picked up the violin and set it by his neck, positioning it before he slid the bow against the string and played the first note of the melody he had remembered too well, _Amazing Grace_. The string of melody filled the room before soon the air brought the sound together with the wind, spreading as far as the wind could carry them.

Nana unconsciously closed her eyes as she heard the melody being played. The way her son played it always left warmth inside her heart, making her to smile and forget about the bad and painful things she had felt. Always, from the minute he played it for the first time.

Tsuna, who closed his eyes in concentration at first, slowly opened his visible eye, hidden beneath his long bangs. His eyelid didn't open thoroughly, only enough for him to peek at his mother's expression, due to his concentration.

The expression she had, that blissful look, he wondered if he could keep it from disappearing forever. Her blissful smile, he wondered if he could always see it forever. Her serene expression…

Ever since he was little, he always saw his mother as someone strong, yet gentle, who knew what to say to calm him down when he cried, who knew how to make everything better again when he was down. Never once he saw her tears, not even when his _dear father_ left the house for two years. She always gave out that smile of hers, that comforting smile.

He knew that they had stayed in contact; at least he thought so after he knew his father's involvement with the Vongola. But, not being able to meet for two years… She must've felt sad, at least… She just never showed him, always smiling as if everything is alright in the world.

When she had known about his leg… that was the first time he ever saw her tears…

Before, it didn't bother him much. He always thought that she was that strong, as she always appeared cheerful and happy. He thought that it didn't matter much to her, that she was content only with him. But now, he knew better.

She always smiled, but that didn't mean she wasn't sad or worried. It was only now, when he really spend his time with her, that he realized that. As he played the melody, as she listened in the melody he created, and as he watched her skin getting paler by days that he could see how vulnerable she was—and _is._

Tsuna remembered how happy she was when the member of their household increased, one by one. From when Reborn and Lambo came, then followed by Bianchi and I-Pin, and also Fuuta. It didn't really show, since his mother had always been smiling, but with their arrival, the house had become livelier and _…fun, _for both Tsuna himself and his mother_._ When his father finally came back after two years, she was so happy, so giddy, and she would blush from time to time, like a high-school girl. But, when he had to leave again—now that Tsuna thought of it—she seemed a bit… sad. Yet still she sent him away with a smile, that smile of hers, even though he left without another word.

Tsuna kept his gaze on his mother for a while, watching her breathing and smiling with her eyes closed, almost like she was sleeping already, before he closed his eye again and finished the to the last note of the song.

He dragged on in the last note, not wanting it to finish so soon. But, the song was on the verge of ending, and his mother appeared to be almost asleep. He should let her to have her rest, he thought. When the silence reigned over he quietly put the violin back to its case, putting it back to where it was usually kept, inside a drawer by the corner of the room not far from the bed.

"Tsu-kun…," Tsuna heard Nana's voice calling for him weakly, due to the fact she was half-asleep, just when he was nearing the exit. He was a bit startled and he turned his head back to his mother, to meet her half-lidded eyes and her weak smile. Her one arm stretched out from under the blanket towards him, silently asking him to come closer to her.

"_Kaa-san?_" Tsuna asked softly before he reached for her outstretched hand, holding it in a loose grip inside his palms, an unconscious attempt to warm her cold hand. Nana responded his grip with her own tightening of hand.

"It was really beautiful," she said. Tsuna couldn't be more proud when he heard that, despite already hearing it from her every time he was done playing. He gave her his smile then. Then, he noticed how cold his mother was.

"It's really chilly tonight," Tsuna commented as he found himself shivering. He tried to adjust his mother's blanket, making sure it was perfect. "I hope it won't snow again tonight," he muttered out loud.

His mother then smiled (again, that sad smile…), before she spoke a sudden question, a question that caught Tsuna off-guard.

"Tsu-kun, do you know what happens when the snow melts?" she asked. The question put Tsuna off guard. He stuttered out when he tried to answer her.

"E-Eh… it turns to water?" he answered unsurely. Nana just chuckled at his answer before she smiled again. She gestured him to bend down closer, and whispered him the answer.

Tsuna widened his eyes at her answer and looked at his mother with look of pure surprise. His mother, however, only supported a cheerful face on her face.

"_Ne, _Tsu-kun…?" Nana suddenly said again, making anything Tsuna to put his attention on her words again. She didn't wait for his reply when she turned away from the previous subject.

"I wonder… what is your father doing right now?"

Tsuna stiffened at the mention of his father. He unconsciously gripped her hand tighter, which was either ignored or wasn't felt by Nana, since she, now that Tsuna looked closer, had that faraway look in her eyes. The smile that graced her lips somehow pierced his heart more than he realized. So sad. Longing.

He wondered if he should hate the man for leaving her so often, or hate himself for bringing his mother to this situation.

"I couldn't reply his letters anymore… I wonder where he is now… Africa? Or perhaps North Pole? Haha… I hope he didn't know about us leaving yet. He would be very sad and lonely…. But, I guess that's only my wishful thinking," Nana rambled softly, before her eyes went downcast. "He'll probably be mad…"

Tsuna noticed that she looked so sad, either because she thought Iemitsu's anger, or because of something else Tsuna couldn't understand just yet.

'Anger? …He could never be angry at her…. Worried, most likely. But angry? Never,' he thought as he tried picturing his father being angry. He couldn't even imagine it

He didn't like how his mother thought so much of his father, who was barely there in their life—at least, Tsuna's life. But upon watching the sadness graced her mother's expression to the very detail, he felt like he had to say something. So, in his haste, he blurted out words that had been in his mind for some time.

"B-But he rarely with us anyway. It shouldn't be much of a difference."

Tsuna only realized he might have hurt his mother's feeling when he saw her eyes glistened under her bangs before she suddenly covered her eyes from his view.

"_G-Gomen—"_

Nana suddenly lifted her eyes and gave that smile again, that sad smile, making Tsuna to feel even worse than before. But, before he could say something again, Nana gently stroked his hair with her free hand, stopping when her hand reached his bandaged eye. Tsuna noticed her smile faltered a bit, and he felt like he should say something again.

"I hope we can see the cherry blossoms again with everyone," Nana said softly before he could say anything. Again, she smiled before she pulled her hand back to the top of the blanket, resting on the general position of her stomach.

Tsuna gave her a warm smile then, not unlike the one his mother would give to him. "We will, _Kaa-san. _Once you got better, we will go home. We will see it again, with everyone."

Nana replied his smile with her own smile, a smile that she would use when she doesn't want the others to worry about her. "Yes, you're right, Tsu-kun."

"Mmh," Tsuna nodded then at his mother's answer, sealing a promise between them for a future that doesn't seem too far for now. Slowly, however, Nana's smile fell into a sad one.

"I—," Nana whispered softly, so soft that Tsuna could not quite hear it.

"…_Kaa-san?_" Tsuna asked in concern. Somehow, his mother was acting a bit weird. He didn't know what changed, but there was something—

The hand in his grip, since when had they've become so cold? Was it really because of the winter?

Before he could ask, Ito came in to the room, startling both Tsuna and Nana. Meanwhile, Ito also supported a look of surprise when he entered the room.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were done," Ito said. He was about to excuse himself, but Tsuna stopped him.

"N-No, it's alright," he said in haste, making the first word to some out in stutter. He then noticed how dark it was outside and the moon was already out, grandly sitting on her throne in the midst of the dark, winter sky. The dark clouds that were drifting did nothing but to amplify her greatness as the queen of the night.

"Is it already the time for the check up?" he asked Ito after he noticed that he has been in his mother's room for quite a long time. Ito nodded before he walked closer to where Nana was. Tsuna then released his grip from his mother's hand and smiled before he left. Before he passed the door though, Nana called out softly.

"Tsu-kun," she called, making Tsuna to look back. "…I love you."

Tsuna was surprised since the sentence came up out of nowhere, as showed by the widening of his visible eye and the raise of his eyebrow, despite hidden underneath his bangs, before he offered her a smile, a warm and meaningful smile, and said his reply before he closed the door behind him.

"I love you too, _Kaa-san."_

An uncomfortable feeling haunted him then, as the door was closed and he could no longer see his mother. His hyper intuition picked something terrible in the air, something horrible, making his heart and mind went haywire with both dread and anxiety, freezing him in an uncomfortable trance.

It was as if something horrible was about to happen.

"_...It's only because of your mother's condition,"_ the voice in his head said, startling Tsuna out of his reverie. The voice, which had been silent all this time, made itself known and reminded Tsuna of a mystery that dwelled within him.

He almost forgot all about its existence.

'_It still… exists?'_ Tsuna thought, his dread temporarily forgotten.

"_It was her condition. Your mother, ill as she is, who looks like she will—"_

"She'll get better soon," Tsuna stated suddenly, cutting what the voice about to say. "It was my paranoia," he said again, more to himself, as a way to ensure his own doubting heart.

He ignored the voice, willing it to disappear from his mind. However, he knew it didn't disappear, as he still could feel its presence deep within him. But, it seemed the voice followed his wish, listened his silent plead to not continue the hanging sentence.

"…Yeah, just paranoid…"

* * *

"_Ouchi wasureta kohibari wa…"  
(The larks that forgot their way home)_

Somewhere within a dark, unknown place, a song was sung, grave as it was. A lullaby, the song was supposed to be. However, what reverberated within the dark place was far from comforting. The singer sounded so hoarse, as if he, or she, hadn't drink for days, making the song sounded so lingering, so haunting... as if it was a song sung by an otherworldly creature.

However… was it a siren that sung the song? How could it still sounded so… beautiful, in its own creepy, disturbing way.

"_Hi no hi hatake no mugi no naka…"  
(In the wheat fields day to day)_

"ARRGH!" someone, right behind the veil of darkness where the singer sang, yelled in either frustration, or pain. However, the singer kept on singing the lullaby, ignoring the voice that had broken the silence of his, or her, cage of darkness.

"_Kaasan tazunete naita kedo…"  
(I cried after asking my mother)_

"This isn't working! This thing just won't listen!" the voice said again, and the singer was sure it was said with bitter impatience and anger. Just after that, the sound of metal hitting another metal was heard. It wasn't loud, and sounded more like a coin had fallen off to the floor, just with a little bit more force. And then, there was a ruckus outside the darkness, as the singer's next lyric was suddenly seemed to resound quieter in the commotion.

"—only the descendant—"

"—can't use—"

"—useless for—"

"—don't hurt—"

"If I must—!"

"_Kaze ni omugi ga naru bakari…"  
(The wheat are crying to the wind)_

A small something, possibly the coin that was hitting the floor earlier, glinted within the cage of darkness where the singer reside. The singing stopped, a hand reaching out.

"—ONLY THE—DAMNED THING—"

Before the hand could reach for that glinting, small object, another hand appeared from behind the veil of darkness, snatching it away back to the light.

"—THEN TAKE THAT PERSON TO ME!"

A pair of coppery eyes shone for less than one second when that little bit of light temporary entered the cage of darkness.

* * *

_**CRASH!**_

The sound of glass hitting against the concrete floor startled everyone nearby, making them to glance worriedly to the one who caused the loud noise.

"_Oyakata-sama_…?" one teen with honey brown hair and blue eyes said worriedly to the older man, who had been the culprit behind the loud noise. Calloused hands trembled, and shattered pieces of glass scattered far, directly under the wall across where the man stood. Pieces of said glass could also be found sticking on said wall.

"…I'm going to the bathroom," the older man said as he turned away, before leaving the room without another word, explaining nothing to the silenced group behind him.

No one dared to break the silence before the older man left. Everyone knew of the grief said man must've felt, the sorrow, the sadness.

They could feel it themselves.

Upon hearing the news of his family's disappearance, their accident, Sawada Iemitsu had been frighteningly calm. However, those who have been working under him long enough knew it wasn't because he didn't care—in fact, they were sure he already past being worried. He was already deep in fear.

They could see it by how he would order them around almost desperately—he was impatient and scared for his family's well-being.

After months and seasons changed, even the Vongola had given up and most accepted the idea that they had _died_. However, the head of CEDEF didn't fancy the mere thought of it. He didn't give up, and kept ordering his men around, looking for anything that the Vongola—somehow or miraculously—missed.

But, the man's patience ran out, as well as his hope.

The thrown glass—almost in fashion like how a certain Varia leader expressed his annoyance and/or anger—was a sign that Sawada Iemitsu had finally given up.

His own men had given up long before this, as well as Basil himself.

The grief, they all could feel it filling the atmosphere.

* * *

Mizusawa Ito closed the door behind him and leaned his back to the door. His right hand lifted to his head, hiding his face from view, before he muttered a curse in frustration. His left hand banged the door in attempt to lessen his annoyance at himself

"That promise…," a voice rang suddenly from Ito's side. He glanced towards the source to see the owner of the voice. He noticed the dark grey orbs for eyes and the dark brown tuft of hair, and he immediately recognized the man. "Are you going to fulfill it?"

Ito chuckled then, however it sounded hollow, even to his own ears. "Of course. It is the least I can do. I should make use of this ability of mine for a less selfish cause for once, do you not think so?"

"…Is that so…?" the other said, almost unsure. "But—" He was about to ask more. However, the smile Ito showed stopped him from whatever question he wanted to ask, a smile that said 'everything will go well', thus forcing him to keep his silent.

"Anyway, where's your tenant?" Ito asked to fill the silence. The other merely looked to the side, towards the moon that is almost hidden behind the dark cloud.

"Back in my house. I somehow managed to sneak out," he answered. It was silent for a while, as both of them were too immersed in looking at the moon.

"You have thought of it, haven't you?" the other man asked suddenly. "That woman's peculiar disease, that boy's inactive eye, all of this… Every indication matched too perfectly, too much to be a mere coincidence… You don't think—"

The other man had his eyes on Ito then. The expression on his face was almost worried, Ito noted. His eyebrows scrunched together into a line and his eyes narrowed in bothered expression. However, Ito had nothing to say, so he only let out another smile, somewhat bitter, but somehow amused. "You think so, too?"

The other man let out a small frustrated frown. "Fate truly has the wickedest way in pulling our strings," the other man said in tone that didn't show neither as good nor as bad, and also flat, almost detached. When he didn't receive anything more but that bitter smile, he went silent and closed his eyes in resignation, turning away from the bright and illuminating moon.

"I've prepared what you've asked," the other man said softly. "It'll be ready at once."

Ito let out a smile again. "Ah, _arigatou_," he said. The other man began to walk away then, but not before he said his last words.

"I have to go. Too long and he'll soon have more things to be suspicious about."

"Ah, he has been quite bright indeed…," Ito muttered out before he nodded and watched the other man walking away, whose figure soon disappeared into the shadows. He turned back towards the moon then, letting its light to touch his skin and face, before he let out a sigh of resignation. He let himself to glance back towards the door behind him and his expression mellowed to the point of melancholy.

"My promise… I shall fulfill to the best of my ability, Sawada-san."

* * *

"…_I know who I am…"_

"_But, I don't know why I'm here…"_

"_That person of white… could he be—?"_

"…_I…"_

* * *

**~|To Be Continued|~**

* * *

**Words That You Might Not Know :**

_Sussurri__ Nelle Tenebre__: _Whispers Within Darkness

_Oyakata-sama:_ the way Basil called Iemitsu. I think it means Master or something...

**Sapphire09:** Considerably shorter than previous, but I hope you don't mind. I also apologize for changing too many things in the previous chapter, and also for the very-VERY-late update. I really apologize…..

As you can see, I've introduced other figures in another scene…. I wonder what I should do with that…. Oh, well, I'll just figure it out as I write~ lol

Most of the people in Vongola faction already given up… Well, it has been months. I don't know… without any lead, I'm not sure they can keep their hopes up until new year. So, yeah….

I'm really sorry for the short chapter, but the next chapter is supposed to be the last of this Target, and then we can continue to Target II. I postpone my idea of time skip, since I'm not really sure either what to make of for Target II. I know what I want to do, but I'm still considering if I can just switch it to Target III instead…. Hmm…. I wonder which makes the most impact?

It's been a while since I continued my writing, so I wonder if I get a bit rusty…. You tell me?

And, I wonder what Ito is up to? Ooh! Can he be doing something to help Tsuna? Well, I guess we all have to wait and wait 'till the right chapter comes out!

**Answer To Your Reviews:**

**Yukira Mirabelle:** Well, what do you know. I am updating! OwO/

**otakuzen:**I showed you what happened to Iemitsu, and Dino as well in the changed previous chapter. Thanks for the review!

**Helen:** Noope! never abandoning! Here's my proof!

**Hantamu:**I can try that... It'll be soo heart-thumping moment! (if that even makes sense.. me and my wording...lol) thanks for the review!

**Chrome Nagi Dokuro:** Thank you!

**anime-lyric:** Updated! and thank you! I like it as well! lol!

**Kyoko27:** Not always~ I have something in my mind... I don't know if I really do it or not... And I changed the previous chapter as well... Well, I hope I didn't disappoint you...

winged magician: previous chapter been remade, and continued!

**chariot330:** I really don't know how to reply yours, dearest friend... Ganbatte for your story as well, ne?

HaruKatsuki: replacing the eye? hmm... That's for me to know, and you to find out~ OwO Oh, and I hope you don't mind me for changing the previous chapter... I didn't change the storyline, just changing the description and explain more things... As for the guardians... Well, I did show Dino in the changed previous chapter... OwO

**Cielo di Vaniglia:** Makasii! Moga kamu maafin ak yang sudah seenakny ngubah chapter sebelumnya... hiks, Gomenasai QAQ. Moga2 chapter ini juga dapat memberikan suatu kepuasan ya... *sniff* makasih lagi sebelumny.

**VAY-hale:** I hope you don't mind the changes I made in previous chapter, and like this one as well. I'm so happy every time I read your reviews!

**orangesky3:** I really hope you like this and the remake of previous chapter. I really love you and your reviews! w Here's a new chapter~

**Kanojo wa Rinko:** Confused? well, I hope with the changed I've made, I hope I cleared some things up! Oh, and it's been a long time, isn't it? OwO

**Ryuubi27:** I've updated! And, thank you! I've gone through all of my exam, and now I have a bit of free time to continue! Yay to me!

**Reidluver:** Okay, there are some changed in the previous chapter, and I've decided to explain about Iemitsu in this chapter... I really hope I didn't disappoint you with this chapter...

Oh, I'm sorry if I said something wrong in this reply, since I kinda rushed it... I'm targeting to finish the next chapter before August 12th... But, if I don't make it... I hope you can be patient until past the 20th... As a freshman in university, there are some tasks we all must do as new students, and I'm afraid it'll take time...

I know I just updated after a long break, and it's almost a year too! Yet this story doesn't seem to finish... I am really sorry!

I still dare to hope you'll stay and review...


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